Fat Loss Made Simple

It seems that every time we turn on the television or flip through a magazine there is some new miracle supplement that promises to be the cure to all your excess bodyfat woes. There are more diet books available today then ever before. I just did a search on amazon.com and as of this writing they carry over 41,000 books on the subject of diet and weight loss. Heck, even every 3rd episode of Dr. Phil is about losing weight. Americans spend approx. $50 BILLION per year on diet and weight loss products! With so much information and more fat burning supplements available then ever before how is it possible that 60% of the population is overweight?

The answer is simple...
People are still eating too much and not exercising enough.

That’s the bottom line. People are not fat because of genetics, or because they are “big boned”, or because of hormone imbalances, or because of that cursed fat gene that scientists are busy trying to cure.

When most people finally decide to start a diet they go about it all wrong and use methods that can’t possibly work. They actually sabotage their progress and destroy their metabolism in the process.

This is the typical diet scenario that I hear about all to often:

What does this person then do… Most likely they will go on some crazy fad diet like a low carb plan, or worse some ridiculous “liquid diet”, “cabbage soup diet”, or “coffee and grapefruit diet”.

This person may even drop 10-20 lbs. of bodyweight if they have the will power to stick with it. But the moment they go back to a normal eating plan, which they will have to do eventually simply because they can’t stand being hungry and deprived, they will gain all the weight back and usually a few pounds more due to the rebound from the restrictive diet they have been following.

Now they are back to square one and more pissed off then ever. They will then tell everyone they know:
“I’ve tried that dieting stuff and it doesn’t work, I’m just meant to be fat”
(As they help themselves to another piece of chocolate cake...)

The truth is that it is impossible to lose a significant amount of bodyfat in only a few short weeks and do it in a safe and healthy manner. Most beginners never allow themselves the time it takes to get the results they want. They expect too much too soon, get discouraged and quit.

Most nutrition experts agree that a safe and healthy fat loss is losing between 1-2 pounds per week. While this may not seem like much, it is very realistic and achievable goal for everyone. So if you have 20 lbs. that you’d like to lose, be prepared to give yourself a minimum of 10 weeks to lose that much weight. If you try to lose weight faster you will just be setting yourself up for disappointment.

One of the biggest problems for a lot of people is that there are so many opinions about how to lose bodyfat that many people end up completely confused and they don't do anything, they are just like a deer stuck in the headlights. The best thing to do in this situation is to just start now by exercising more and cutting out the junk food.  Don’t make it anymore complicated then that, you can figure out the finer details as you go.

The average person could lose a tremendous amount of bodyfat simply by cutting out junk food and going for a walk everyday. Yes, there is a lot more that could be done to speed up the process, but these 2 simple steps would move most people in the right direction for fat loss.

To lose a pound of bodyfat per week you only need to burn off 500 calories more then you consume each day. That is very easy to do, especially compared to the torture that some people put themselves through when trying to lose fat. You don’t have to starve yourself, you don’t have to cut out carbohydrates, and you don’t have to workout for 3 hours a day.

The basic fundamentals of a good fat loss eating plan include:

-         Eat 5-6 small meals per day. Space your meals 2-3 hours apart and make sure to never skip meals.

-         Eat natural wholesome foods; avoid eating processed foods, fried foods, sweets, and junk food.

-         Eat a serving of lean protein with every single meal. This could be a serving of lean meat such as beef, chicken, fish, etc. or it could be a protein drink or protein bar.

-         When you sit down to a meal, eat lean protein and green vegetables first. Then eat starchy carbohydrates last. This will ensure that you consume your protein and veggies with each meal, and it will naturally prevent you from overeating carbohydrates because you’ll fill up on the protein first.

By following these eating tips you can lose bodyfat and still eat until you are comfortably full and never have to let yourself go hungry.

Exercise For Fat Loss

The best way to structure your workouts for fat loss is to separate your cardio and weight training into 2 separate workouts.  After you workout your metabolism remains elevated for several hours and this is where you will burn a lot of bodyfat.  If you only workout once per day, then you will only spike your metabolism once per day.  But if you do your cardio in the morning and weight training in the afternoon (or vise versa) you will spike your metabolism twice per day and burn more bodyfat then if you combined both cardio and weight training into one workout.

To help you lose bodyfat you should do some cardio first thing in the morning before eating.  Doing your cardio at this time will help you burn more bodyfat, your body will resort to burning fat because there is no food in your system to be used as fuel.  You can go for a walk, jog, or bicycle ride outdoors.  Or you can go to the gym and use the cardio machines there. When it comes to fat loss one type of cardio is no better then another. I personally like to vary my cardio exercise to help keep it fun and interesting.

Diet and cardio without weight training will cause you to lose lean body mass and this is a big mistake. We all know that weight training is the key to developing strength and muscle. But it is also critical for losing bodyfat as well. Weight training will increase your lean body mass and thus increase your metabolism. The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn during the day and the easier it will be to lose bodyfat and keep it off.

A great exercise schedule for fat loss would be to do weight training 4 days per week and do at least 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise daily.

Just keep it simple, don't major in the minor things. Lay the foundation of a good fat loss program first and then you can move on and take care of the finer details later.

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