You cut your food intake and you exercise and do exactly what they sayto lose weight – calories out are greater than those coming in. You should be losing fat but you aren’t. What is going on you wonder? Well, something is not right and it may be that you are still not paying attention to that often forgotten factor – your metabolism.
Everybody has heard about it but few understand their metabolism which is essentially the body’s engine. Its health and condition determines how much fuel (calories) you are burning each day and if you are losing fat or storing it. But there are also other factors for such as your exercise and food choices that you make every day that have a significant impact on the way your metabolism is running.
For example – if you go on and off ‘fad’ diets or do the wrong type of exercise your metabolism will slow down which is not what you want for losing fat as it means less fat burning and more fat gain. So, every day you continue to do the things that work against your metabolism you will get further and further away from that slim body you desire.
Here are some tips to get you back on the right track and losing fat again.
Losing fat needs proper strengthening exercise
Tip number one – get yourself of a proper strength training program and ditch those little pink dumbbells and ineffective walking or any other low intensity activity. Use weights that challenge your body so you can make the changes necessary to the driver of your metabolism – your muscles.
Just 2-3 sessions per week are needed but put some effort into them which is something you may have to learn how to do if you are used to hours of movement that does not even break a sweat. It does take some effort to rebuild and re-tone your muscular system but it is well worth it as this alone will increase calorie burning like nothing else can.
Tip number two – do not reduce your calories more than a hundred or two each day for losing fat. This means that for a woman you should be eating at least 1600 calories a day and a man at least 2200. The idea is to increase your fuel burning rate with proper strengthening exercise and burn the fat off rather than the old fashioned way of trying to starve it off (which doesn’t work 95 percent of the time for losing fat).
Losing fat needs the right foods in the right quantities
Tip number three – getting your food sorted. Small meals, 4 to 6 of them spread throughout the day are best for losing fat. Ditch the processed foods and focus on natural whole foods that you cook from scratch. Each small meal should have a source of protein which will further stimulate the metabolism and have you feeling full and satisfied while you are losing fat.
The idea of eating this way is to become healthier, rebalance fat burning hormones and reduce food cravings so you can adhere to a healthy eating plan. The big thing is to get yourself back into the kitchen (there is no other way). Plan, shop and prepare your meals in advance so you have them organized no matter where you go during the day so you can be eating right for losing fat.
So make these changes and watch the body you desire start to emerge which will fill you with pride at your success. As well as losing fat you will get a bonus as you become healthier and more energetic which will have you wanting to become more active. What this means is that you can put your overweight days behind you and hang on to that strong, lean slim body that you have reclaimed.
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