quickly lose weight

Losing body fat is really not much of a science. However, infomercials that appear on television as well as articles written in fitness and bodybuilding magazines with less than up to date information have created a great amount of confusion in regards to the subject of fat loss. In an effort to eliminate this confusion, I will share with you my 8 rules of fat loss in order to achieve maximum permanent fat loss along with increased muscle tone.

FAT LOSS RULE #1:

Consume less calories than your body burns for five to six days a week. That is right. You need to consume approximately 500 calories less than what your body burns (maintenance amount) as if you do not create a caloric deficit, no matter what you do, you will not lose fat!

However, it is important that over the weekends you increase your calories by 500-700 over the maintenance amount. This is necessary in order to prevent the metabolism from slowing down.

FAT LOSS RULE # 2:

Watch the mirror and pictures, not your weight scale. Be more concerned with the way you look in the mirror (or in pictures) and your waist size rather than with your total body weight in the scale as such measurement does not distinguish between the amount of fat and muscle that you have.

Most of the time, bodybuilders who are just starting out tell me that they need to lose anywhere between 20-40 pounds of fat. However, I would not be nearly as concerned with the weight as I would be with the way you look in the mirror and your waist size. The reason for that is the fact that as you begin your weight training you will start gaining muscle mass and as a result, the scale may not show any weight loss. Therefore, just concern yourself with the way you look (pictures are a great way to track this) and stop obsessing about your weight.

FAT LOSS RULE # 3:

Concentrate on weight training exercise for losing fat. Yes, you heard right. Even though I constantly hear the line “I will lose the fat first by doing cardio and then gain muscle after all of the fat is gone,” this is not the best way to lose fat! The reason for this is that by using cardio as your sole source of exercise you will lose equal amounts of fat and muscle. The end result will be a smaller but still fat version of yourself with a lower metabolism (due to the muscle loss).

Gaining muscle is really the secret to permanent fat 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 but dieting and cardio alone will not give.

FAT LOSS RULE # 4:

If possible, attempt to exercise first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I really love exercising first thing in the morning on an empty stomach as I always get the quickest fat loss results that way. The reason for this is that your body’s glycogen reserves have been exhausted due to the overnight fast, so the body has to rely on burning fats for fuel. Besides, that way I have the rest of the day to eat, recover, and grow.

However, if you do not like to weight train at the beginning of the day, at least try a quick 20 minute intense aerobic activity (this could be a quick stationary bike ride or a vigorous walk) as well as 5-10 minutes of abdominal exercise done in superset fashion. That gives you a total of 25-30 minutes of aerobic work that jumps starts your fat burning mechanisms early in the day.

FAT LOSS RULE # 5:

Eat smaller more frequent meals throughout the day. The first thing that most bodybuilding dieters do is that they start a crash diet where they only eat once or twice a day as well as increasing cardiovascular activity. Again, this is a sure fire way to lose muscle and lower your metabolism. As we already know, less muscle and a lower metabolism is not the way to get to your bodybuilding goal.

In order to keep the metabolism going at full speed and the blood sugar levels under control to keep energy levels high and cravings away, 5 to 6 small balanced meals a day is the way to go. When I say balanced meals what I mean is that each meal should contain all of the macronutrients (carbs, protein and fats) in a specific ratio.

While metabolisms differ, I have found that a ratio of 40-45% Carbs, 40-35% Protein, and no more than 20% Fats is generally the best way to go. This ratio is optimal for keeping insulin and blood sugar under perfect control. In addition, this ratio creates a favorable hormonal environment that leads to muscle growth and fat loss.

FAT LOSS RULE # 6:

Let water be your main beverage. Time and time again I have noticed that dieters start their diets with a sincere effort and even count all the calories of the foods that they consume. However, most totally forget about the fact that fruit juices, sodas and other beverages contain calories as well. Therefore, avoid any type of drink that contains calories and concentrate on drinking plain water instead.

By doing this you will get the following benefits:

• Your appetite will be suppressed as water helps control your appetite. Sometimes when you feel hungry after a good meal this sensation indicates a lack of water. Drinking water at that time would take the craving away.
• You will get a metabolic boost as cold water increases your metabolism.
• The fat loss process will be operating a full peak as water is needed in order for fat loss to occur.
• You will not be drinking unnecessary calories as water has no calories.

FAT LOSS RULE # 7:

Be prepared and pack your meals in advance. One thing that totally kills dieters is going to work. Work, however, is not the culprit. The culprit is the lunch hour. If the dieter does not pre pack his/her food, lunch comes along and the person ends up going to the nearest fast food joint and exposing themselves to temptation that probably nine out of ten times they succumb to.

Therefore, the best way to stay on the diet (and also avoid losing meals) is to pre pack everything in such a way that when a meal time comes, it is relatively easy to have access to the food. Another advantage of this is that since the food is pre packed, you will not be adding extra food to the plate.

FAT LOSS RULE # 8:

Go to bed early. Two reasons for this:

1. Lack of sleep increases your hormone cortisol, which is a hormone that stores fat and burns muscle (in other words, it does the exact opposite of what you are trying to accomplish), and decreases your testosterone levels (which need to be high in order to keep your fat burning/muscle gaining processes going at full speed). While sleep requirements vary, seven to nine hours of sleep is generally a good rule of thumb.

2. The probability of succumbing to late night cravings increases exponentially for every late hour of the day hat you stay awake.

Please also check out my other guide on: Lifetime Fitness and Gain Muscle