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So
you want to drop some fat but you're not sure
of what the best way is to get started?
Right
now, I'm going to give you a short guide that
will get you moving in the right direction...an
exact training program (done 3 times per week)
covering weights and cardio, as well as what to
eat, how much to eat, and what supplements you
need and don't need.
Let's get right to it!
STEP 1 - FOOD QUALITY for Fat
Loss
For
fat loss, WHAT you're eating is just as important
as HOW MUCH you're eating. Think of it it way...you
can lose weight eating ONLY 1000 calories worth
of chocolate pudding every day...but how do you
think you're going to feel eating nothing but
chocolate pudding!
It's
VERY important to eat good quality, nutritious
food when you're trying to lose fat. Your body
needs nutrients to function. Without good nutrition,
your body will react in two ways: first, it will
shut down your metabolism to try and conserve
nutrients. Second, it will set off RAGING cravings
to try and get you to eat more nutrients!
Focus
on unprocessed foods, as close to their natural
state as possible. Unprocessed foods are more
nutritious and easier for your body to digest
and work with. This simple change can make a big
difference to your fat-loss efforts.
Here's
the deal...contrary to popular thought, a calorie
is NOT a calorie. The popular scientific consensus
used to be (and still is according to some people)
that all calories are created equal. That it didn't
matter what you ate in terms of nutrients (fat,
carbs and protein), as long as the total calorie
intake was below a certain point, you would lose
fat.
Unfortunately,
that is NOT the case and it's common sense - what
do you think would help you lose fat better...that
1000 calories of chocolate pudding or 1000 calories
of lean chicken breast, vegetables and brown rice?
Quality of food DOES matter and it can mean the
difference between success and failure.
My
advice: for 1 week, take a small notepad wherever
you go and write down EVERYTHING you eat. And
I do mean EVERYTHING - even if it's just a snack
or a little nibble of a cracker, write it down,
as well as how much of it you ate. Remember, this
is just for one week - you don't have to do this
for the rest of your life so be honest about everything
you eat!
At
the end of the week, look at what you've eaten
and put a checkmark beside everything that is
unprocessed (a good rule of thumb is anything
that can be found on the outside aisles of the
grocery store, lean meats, fish, eggs, veggies,
fruits, nuts, potatoes, whole grains, legumes,
etc.). This is a good visual cue to see exactly
how you're doing with your food quality.
If
you see that more than half of the foods have
checkmarks beside them, you're doing much better
than average already! Ideally, you want to get
that number of checkmarks as high as possible.
For
more information about nutrition and eating, check
out the following article:
BASIC
Nutrition - A Quick, Common-Sense Guide To What
You Should Be Eating to Stay Healthy and Get Results
Right Now
STEP 2 - FOOD QUANTITY for Fat
Loss
Now
that you've looked at WHAT you're eating, it's
time to turn your attention to HOW MUCH you're
eating. Even the highest quality, nutritious food
can make you fat if you eat too much of it. So
to lose fat effectively, you basically have to
eat less food.
There
are many, MANY methods and formulas for figuring
this out but, bottom line, ALL of them are really
just "best-guesses" - even the scientific
formulas that work out your requirements to the
single calorie are just guesses. These guesses
are based on plenty of data, mind you, and they
can be very helpful in determining a good starting
point. But if a formula says you need X number
of calories and you eat that and you still aren't
losing fat, obviously that number isn't the number
for you.
Here's
a very simple rule of thumb for estimating a STARTING
POINT for determining your caloric intake to lose
fat: take your weight in pounds and multiply it
by 10. For example, if you weigh 175 pounds, that
would give you a starting point of 1750 calories
per day.
Go
back to that week-long list of foods that you
wrote down (from the previous point) and plug
those foods into the database on this site (it
has a HUGE number of foods that you can track):
Calorie
King Food Database
Add
up your calories for the whole week, divide that
by 7 (to get your average caloric intake per day)
and see how it compares to number you get from
the simple formula I described above.
If
it's higher, you need to eat less food. If it's
lower and you find you're STILL not losing fat,
you may need to eat even less than that.
I would
NOT recommend going below 1000 calories per day
for food intake at the VERY lowest. When you start
getting that low, you run into problems because
your body isn't getting enough energy and nutrients
from the small amount of food you're eating. This
is doubly true when you're exercising as well.
Your body will react by slowing your metabolism
and burning up lean tissue (like your muscle mass).
This will put a stop to fat loss and can be dangerous!
STEP 3 - WEIGHT TRAINING for
Fat Loss
One
of the first things people ask me when they want
to lose fat is "how much cardio should I
do." When I respond by telling them how much
weight training they should do, they always look
at me like I'm crazy.
But
here's the bottom line: if you go into an aerobics
class and take a snapshot of the people in there
then come back 6 months later and take another
shapshot, chances are VERY good that most of the
people in the class haven't made any significant
changes to their bodies.
Sure,
cardio training burns calories, but it doesn't
reshape your body and it doesn't build muscle
mass to same degree as weight training. This is
true for both men and women.
**
And a note specifically to the ladies, when I
talk about muscle mass for you, I'm NOT talking
about big, bulky bodybuilder muscles...I'm talking
about the sleek, toned muscles that give your
body the curves and shape you're looking for!
Without THAT kind of muscle mass, you may get
smaller but you still won't have the shape you're
looking for.
For
a more detailed explanation of this, check out
the following article:
Follow
the Path of MOST Resistance! Learn why weight
training is the fast track to sculpting your body.
If
you want to lose fat, you should weight train
at least three times per week (e.g. Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday). I like to recommend total body workouts
each session for beginning trainers as it helps
the body to learn the exercises faster and build
strength and muscle faster.
Here's
what a typical resistance training session would
look like:
3 sets
of back
3 sets of chest
3 sets of thighs
2 sets of shoulders
2 sets of hamstrings
2 sets of biceps
2 sets of triceps
2 sets of calves
2 sets of abs
Take
about a minute rest in between each set and aim
for about 8 to 10 reps per set.
The
MOST important thing to note here with rep ranges
is that those 8 to 10 reps are a GUIDE NOT A TARGET.
The idea is to choose a weight that makes it tough
to complete those 10 reps. The idea is NOT to
take a weight that you can easily do 10 reps with,
do 10 reps then stop regardless of whether the
muscle was really worked or not. To make progress,
you need to push yourself.
I cannot
TELL you how many times I've seen people diligently
counting their reps as they whip through an exercise
then stop before they even put a dent in their
strength levels. When I ask them why they stopped
so soon, they always tell me "that's how
many reps it says to do on my program."
Don't
be afraid to push yourself! THAT is where the
real results are!
If
you would like more information on how to perform
exercises, check out these links:
Road
Warrior Training - Keep in Shape While Traveling!
Fitstep
Exercise Library
ExRx
Bodybuilding.com
STEP 4 - CARDIO TRAINING for
Fat Loss
Even
though you may think I'm opposed to cardio training
judging by what I wrote above, that is NOT the
case! Cardio definitely has a place in a fat-loss
program.
I have
three main issues with cardio training for fat
loss:
1. It shouldn't be the main focus of a fat-loss
exercise program when it so often is.
This
is a point I mentioned above - I believe weight
training should be the focus of an exercise program
for fat loss. Not only is it more effective for
fat loss, there is actually LESS chance of injury
than with the typical repetitive-movement cardio
activities (anyone who has tried to take up jogging
when they're 20+ pounds overweight can attest
to that!).
2. It's normally done with low intensity and
for long periods of time, which does NOT boost
the metabolism.
The
REAL key to losing fat is ramping up your metabolism
to burn calories ALL THE TIME rather than just
when you're exercising. By keeping intensity low,
you only burn calories DURING exercise, not so
much after. But when you boost intensity, your
metabolism gets cranked up and you burn more calories
ALL DAY.
For
a more detailed explanation of higher-intensity
cardio training and its benefits, read these articles:
What
Do You Mean Low-Intensity Training Isn't The Best
For Fat Burning?
The
Insider Secrets of Interval Training - Learn How
Now!
3. It's typically done WAY too much.
In
order to get results with typical long-duration
cardio, many people do it upwards of 5 or 6 and
even 7 days a week! This is fine if you're an
athlete training for an endurance competition
but if you're a busy person (as many people are),
you just don't have TIME to sit on a stationary
bike for an hour a day.
Couple
that long duration and high frequency with a repetitive
movement and you not only have greater chance
of injury, you also have greater chance of boredom
(which sometimes means giving up on exercise altogether
because "it just doesn't work for me").
My
recommendation is always to use interval training
instead of the long-duration cardio training.
It can be done MUCH faster (10 to 20 minutes),
boosts your metabolism for long periods AFTER
training, and finally, it actually helps your
body hang onto muscle tissue while burning fat.
There
are two ways to include cardio in with the weight
training program I described above.
1.
Do your cardio training immediately AFTER your
weights.
When
you do it this way, don't eat anything after you
do weights - just go directly into your cardio
after a few minutes rest. You only need about
10 minutes of training to really make a dent in
your fat stores. This has the advantage of allowing
you to get all your training done all at once
(in the gym 3 times a week and that's it).
2.
Do your cardio training on separate days or separate
sessions
This
is a good way to go in that you won't be tired
from the weight training when you do the interval
training. You may need go a bit longer in your
sessions (e.g. 15 to 20 minutes) when done on
its own. This method does have the advantage of
giving your metabolism a separate boost in addition
to the weights. When doing it this way, you can
do cardio on its own on Tuesday and Thursday,
for example.
Either
method is very effective! The real key is working
hard at the training.
NOTE:
DO NOT do interval training every day! It may
work well for a little while but you will very
quickly overwork the body, which will stop your
results.
STEP 5 - SUPPLEMENTS for Fat
Loss
When
I refer to supplements here, I'm NOT talking about
fat-loss pills. These pills are not the answer
for losing fat. Your own natural metabolism IS
and it's WAY more powerful than any pill.
Check
out this article on fat-loss pills:
How
Fat Loss Pills Can Make You Fatter
When
I refer to supplements, I'm talking about supplements
that help SUPPORT your body nutritionally, not
send it into a hyper-alert state that fries your
nervous system.
When
training to lose fat, here are the supplements
I highly recommend:
- Protein Powder
- to help with rebuilding and repairing muscle
tissue and keeping the immune system functioning
well (here
is a 3 part article on protein and fat loss)
- Glutamine
- helps speed recovery and boost the immune
system
- Multivitamins
- to help you cover all your nutritional bases
- Vitamin C -
helps repair joints, is a strong antioxidant
and boosts the immune system
- Calcium/Magnesium
- for your bones and also for muscle contractions...it's
hard to get enough of these nutrients when reducing
caloric intake
These
are the basics, as far as I'm concerned. It's
critical to give your body ample nutritional support
when trying to lose fat.
For
more information on supplementation, check out:
A
Quick, "No B.S." Guide To Muscle-Building
and Fat-Loss Supplementation
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CONCLUSION:
These
5 simple steps should get you started on your
way to losing the extra fat. Here are they are
in review:
Step
1 - improve the quality of the food you eat
Step 2 - eat less food
Step 3 - start weight training
Step 4 - include some cardio training
Step 5 - use supplements to support your body
Go
through the list step-by-step and you will on
your way to fat-loss success!
For
more articles and information on fat loss, click
here.
And
if you're interested in a more detailed fat-loss
exercise and nutritional program, be sure to read
about my book "Metabolic
Surge - Rapid Fat Loss"
It's
a program that lays out (in great detail!) 36
days of training, eating and supplementation to
maximize fat-loss. It's a powerful, very comprehensive
program!
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