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, 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
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue43.htm
STEP 2 - FOOD QUANTITY
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):
http://www.calorieking.com/foods/
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
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.
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue8.htm
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!
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue41.htm
http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Exercises/Exercises.htm
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm
STEP 4 - CARDIO TRAINING
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?
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue7.htm
The
Insider Secrets of Interval Training - Learn
How Now!
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue26.htm
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
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
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue20.htm
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)
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue6.htm
- Glutamine - helps speed recovery and boost
the immune system
http://www.fitstep.com/goto/glutamine.htm
- 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
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue48.htm
---
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, check
out:
http://www.fitstep.com/fat-loss/fat-loss.htm
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":
http://www.fitstep.com/metabolic-surge/metabolic-surge-rapid-fat-loss.htm
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!
