Something that has been left untouched for quite some time now at pro health blog is the subject of Weight Loss. With over half of the US population overweight and just about a gazillion different diets available on the market, I'm sure this is something some of you might be interested in.
But before continuing, let me just correct myself and all the others out there using the term Weight Loss. A lot more accurate would be to use the term Fat Loss. Why is that, you ask? Our body weight consists of muscle, organs, water and fat. From those four things you can lose muscle, fat and water. When it comes to losing weight, all we really want to lose is fat. Muscles give us that healthy look, while water plays an important role in several of our bodily functions.
There are many different goals you can set when considering a fat loss plan. Some people still see themselves with a long road ahead of them, while others have already reached a healthy fat percentage but don't mind losing a little more. Whatever your fat loss goal is at this moment, I'm sure there are several lessons still left to be learned.
I'm not going to suggest a certain quick fix diet, neither am I laying out a 16 rules do-not-break-or-fail program. The concepts I'm about to suggest work mostly by themselves. They can be incorporated step by step while still learning more and more each day about a healthy lifestyle. Some of the lessons are very basic guidelines, while others are more advanced and are aimed for those trying to reach fat percentages within the single digit area. It's important to experiment and see what works for YOU and stick to that. If something does not work, evaluate and change. As you'll soon learn, everybody responds differently to different things.
Most of the time we see these genetically disadvantaged people point to the mesomorphic body types and say: "Look! He eats junk food all day long, yet stays so thin! It's all genetics!". At the same time, though, these endormophs continue eating their cheeseburgers and milkshakes as well.
Being genetically disadvantaged does not mean you should give up on a healthy lifestyle. It only means you have to work a little harder. With the proper mindset and dedication, just about anything is possible. Chances are you just don't have a clue where to start. If that's the case, definitely don't stop reading now!
If your ultimate goal is to lose more than 30 pounds then you’ll need more than a one time motivational rush. The road could be long, hard and filled with disappointing results and setbacks. Without long term and short term goals, it’s very likely you’ll give up at some point in time, leaving you with nothing but a bruised ego. You will need to learn a completely new lifestyle, learn what healthy foods are and spend quite some time exercising.
When you’ve made the life changing commitment to really learn a healthy lifestyle, start by setting some long term and short term goals. These goals are important to keep you motivated during moments of weakness. At those times you can look back to your goals and pump yourself back up. Writing down your goals and reading them out loud will dramatically increase your mental strength, which in turn will enable you to finish what you started.
First of all you need to pick a long term goal which can really be unlimited in time. This could be just about anything. For example, if you’re a skinny ectomorph type, your goal will most likely be to gain more muscles mass. On the other hand, if you’re the endomorphic type, chances are you may want to lose some of that excess belly fat.
Just as important as long term goals are the short term goals which should be set on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. These short term goals are not only important to keep you motivated, they also allow you to adjust your diet and exercise routine at regular intervals if the results are not there.
If you cut too many calories from your diet your body will trigger a “starvation response”. As a result your body thinks it can't expect anymore food intake soon. Consequently the body will slow down its metabolism and burn less fat. A slower metabolism also means that the occasional binge eating (also a result of the extreme calorie restriction) will result in a major weight gain, because this one time calorie overload is perceived by the body as a rare opportunity to store energy.
Your body does this as a way to survive in times of hunger and famine. The starvation response is also the reason why people can survive for weeks and even months without any food. You’d think this is quite a nifty body feature and really, it is! Unless you’re living in a society where food supply is abundant and excess fat storage is merely a cosmetic anomaly.
To determine how many calories your body requires, calculate your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) or Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). A decent calculator can be found at Calories Per Hour. This calculator does not consider muscle mass or body fat percentages, but it will do just fine.
To calculate how many calories you can safely cut out every day, just subtract about 15 - 20 % of your Resting Metabolic Rate (this is generally about 400 to 500 calories). For example, if your daily caloric requirement (RMR) is 2000 calories, multiply this by 20% and you'll get 400 calories. 2000 - 400 is 1600 calories. Consuming 1600 calories will result in fat loss while still keeping your metabolism somewhat intact.
To limit the negative effects of calorie restriction on your metabolism you can incorporate cheat meals, which allow you to have some extra calories once every week. This gives your metabolism a boost, limits the cravings and keeps energy levels up during the coming week.
By burning an additional amount of calories through exercise you come very close to your maximum fat burning potential. If you limit yourself to just calorie restriction or just exercise, your fat loss progress will not be optimal. When you combine both methods, 1 + 1 will equal 4. With this synergetic effect your fat loss process will not double, but triple and possibly even quadruple!
Just on a side note I would like to say It is possible to lose fat without counting calories. This is how I did it and it worked like a charm. It did take me plenty of hard work and dedication, though. Figure out for yourself how much time you are willing to put into your program and go from there.
This may sound strange when you've always had the idea that eating more will result in weight gain. What you should do is not eat more, just eat more frequently. The calories do not change, just the amount of meals in which you have those calories changes. The whole idea of eating more frequently fits perfectly into the concept of Eating in Moderation.
In order to get a lightning fast metabolism that burns food like crazy, eat approximately 5 or 6 balanced meals a day. Just make sure you’re meals are not all the same size as when you only had 2 or 3 meals a day. That would just be silly!
To think how badly some people organize their daily food intake is scary. If your last meal of the day is at 8 pm and you only eat again at 12 pm the next day, this means your metabolism has been idle for over 16 hours or two thirds of the day! Don't be surprised when your body savors this moment and stores some extra energy as fat. It may never know when the next meal is due.
A healthy guideline is to have your biggest meal of the day in the morning and lower the portion sizes as the day progresses (e.g. breakfast of about 400 calories and a dinner of about 300 calories, depending on your RMR). Also, try to get more carbohydrates in the morning and less in the evening. Carbohydrates are a quick energy source that should be used up during the day. Carbing up when you're about to go sleep will only boost your fat percentage to a new record high. Well, that may be a bit exaggerated, but you know what I mean.
But before continuing, let me just correct myself and all the others out there using the term Weight Loss. A lot more accurate would be to use the term Fat Loss. Why is that, you ask? Our body weight consists of muscle, organs, water and fat. From those four things you can lose muscle, fat and water. When it comes to losing weight, all we really want to lose is fat. Muscles give us that healthy look, while water plays an important role in several of our bodily functions.
There are many different goals you can set when considering a fat loss plan. Some people still see themselves with a long road ahead of them, while others have already reached a healthy fat percentage but don't mind losing a little more. Whatever your fat loss goal is at this moment, I'm sure there are several lessons still left to be learned.
I'm not going to suggest a certain quick fix diet, neither am I laying out a 16 rules do-not-break-or-fail program. The concepts I'm about to suggest work mostly by themselves. They can be incorporated step by step while still learning more and more each day about a healthy lifestyle. Some of the lessons are very basic guidelines, while others are more advanced and are aimed for those trying to reach fat percentages within the single digit area. It's important to experiment and see what works for YOU and stick to that. If something does not work, evaluate and change. As you'll soon learn, everybody responds differently to different things.
1. Don't Let Genetics Limit Your Results
There are different body types out there. You got the skinny (ectomorph), athletic (mesomorph) and the dreaded endomorphic body type that stores fat easily. Many people blame being overweight on their genetics. They make a valid point, yet are wrong in so many ways as well. Having an endomorphic body type does not mean you should be overweight for the rest of your life!Most of the time we see these genetically disadvantaged people point to the mesomorphic body types and say: "Look! He eats junk food all day long, yet stays so thin! It's all genetics!". At the same time, though, these endormophs continue eating their cheeseburgers and milkshakes as well.
Being genetically disadvantaged does not mean you should give up on a healthy lifestyle. It only means you have to work a little harder. With the proper mindset and dedication, just about anything is possible. Chances are you just don't have a clue where to start. If that's the case, definitely don't stop reading now!
2. Do Not Underestimate the Power Of Goal Setting
Chances are you have already been on a fat loss diet at some point in your life. Odds are even greater you did not reach your final goal. Either the diet program was no good or you lost motivation and gave up. Very often though, both were probably true.If your ultimate goal is to lose more than 30 pounds then you’ll need more than a one time motivational rush. The road could be long, hard and filled with disappointing results and setbacks. Without long term and short term goals, it’s very likely you’ll give up at some point in time, leaving you with nothing but a bruised ego. You will need to learn a completely new lifestyle, learn what healthy foods are and spend quite some time exercising.
When you’ve made the life changing commitment to really learn a healthy lifestyle, start by setting some long term and short term goals. These goals are important to keep you motivated during moments of weakness. At those times you can look back to your goals and pump yourself back up. Writing down your goals and reading them out loud will dramatically increase your mental strength, which in turn will enable you to finish what you started.
First of all you need to pick a long term goal which can really be unlimited in time. This could be just about anything. For example, if you’re a skinny ectomorph type, your goal will most likely be to gain more muscles mass. On the other hand, if you’re the endomorphic type, chances are you may want to lose some of that excess belly fat.
Just as important as long term goals are the short term goals which should be set on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. These short term goals are not only important to keep you motivated, they also allow you to adjust your diet and exercise routine at regular intervals if the results are not there.
3. Do Not Starve Yourself
The most ridiculous weight loss myth goes something like this: “The less you eat, the more fat you will lose". Sounds about right, but there's a lot more to it than just that.If you cut too many calories from your diet your body will trigger a “starvation response”. As a result your body thinks it can't expect anymore food intake soon. Consequently the body will slow down its metabolism and burn less fat. A slower metabolism also means that the occasional binge eating (also a result of the extreme calorie restriction) will result in a major weight gain, because this one time calorie overload is perceived by the body as a rare opportunity to store energy.
Your body does this as a way to survive in times of hunger and famine. The starvation response is also the reason why people can survive for weeks and even months without any food. You’d think this is quite a nifty body feature and really, it is! Unless you’re living in a society where food supply is abundant and excess fat storage is merely a cosmetic anomaly.
To determine how many calories your body requires, calculate your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) or Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). A decent calculator can be found at Calories Per Hour. This calculator does not consider muscle mass or body fat percentages, but it will do just fine.
4. Create a Caloric Deficit
To lose fat you should create a caloric deficit. The calories you burn should be higher than the calories you eat. This is a simple formula that looks something like this:
Calories eaten - calories burned (through exercise & metabolism) = caloric deficit
There are two ways to achieve a caloric deficit. First you could eat fewer calories than your body requires (according to your Resting Metabolic Rate). Secondly, you can burn more calories than you eat. This can be achieved through cardio and weight lifting exercises. Because you can't starve yourself and because exercise requires a lot of time and energy, you'll need to combine both techniques for optimal fat loss.To calculate how many calories you can safely cut out every day, just subtract about 15 - 20 % of your Resting Metabolic Rate (this is generally about 400 to 500 calories). For example, if your daily caloric requirement (RMR) is 2000 calories, multiply this by 20% and you'll get 400 calories. 2000 - 400 is 1600 calories. Consuming 1600 calories will result in fat loss while still keeping your metabolism somewhat intact.
To limit the negative effects of calorie restriction on your metabolism you can incorporate cheat meals, which allow you to have some extra calories once every week. This gives your metabolism a boost, limits the cravings and keeps energy levels up during the coming week.
By burning an additional amount of calories through exercise you come very close to your maximum fat burning potential. If you limit yourself to just calorie restriction or just exercise, your fat loss progress will not be optimal. When you combine both methods, 1 + 1 will equal 4. With this synergetic effect your fat loss process will not double, but triple and possibly even quadruple!
Just on a side note I would like to say It is possible to lose fat without counting calories. This is how I did it and it worked like a charm. It did take me plenty of hard work and dedication, though. Figure out for yourself how much time you are willing to put into your program and go from there.
5. Eat Several Meals a Day
When your goal is to lose fat, eating several meals a day is extremely important. Every meal requires digestion, a process which requires energy and thus increases your metabolism. If you restrict yourself to 3 meals a day or less, you won’t be reaching your metabolism’s full potential. We don't want that to happen, do we?This may sound strange when you've always had the idea that eating more will result in weight gain. What you should do is not eat more, just eat more frequently. The calories do not change, just the amount of meals in which you have those calories changes. The whole idea of eating more frequently fits perfectly into the concept of Eating in Moderation.
In order to get a lightning fast metabolism that burns food like crazy, eat approximately 5 or 6 balanced meals a day. Just make sure you’re meals are not all the same size as when you only had 2 or 3 meals a day. That would just be silly!
6. Never Skip Breakfast
Skipping breakfast is such a huge mistake in fat loss land. Overnight your metabolism has gone into resting mode and burns little energy. To rev your engine back up you should eat something first thing in the morning. By doing this you not only load up energy for the day, you also restart the fat burning process again.To think how badly some people organize their daily food intake is scary. If your last meal of the day is at 8 pm and you only eat again at 12 pm the next day, this means your metabolism has been idle for over 16 hours or two thirds of the day! Don't be surprised when your body savors this moment and stores some extra energy as fat. It may never know when the next meal is due.
A healthy guideline is to have your biggest meal of the day in the morning and lower the portion sizes as the day progresses (e.g. breakfast of about 400 calories and a dinner of about 300 calories, depending on your RMR). Also, try to get more carbohydrates in the morning and less in the evening. Carbohydrates are a quick energy source that should be used up during the day. Carbing up when you're about to go sleep will only boost your fat percentage to a new record high. Well, that may be a bit exaggerated, but you know what I mean.
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