By simply avoiding excess calories and focusing on eating a diet that supplies all the nutrients you need to function well, you can lose body fat and you can do this without exercise.
Take note: Without radically revamping your diet, exercise would be a wasted effort, simply look at the average gym member for proof of this, most never see any progress.
Exercise however can be used to
- Further Increase calories burnt
- Increase fitness levels
- Increase strength
- Build lean muscle mass, giving a more toned appearance.
- Allow better flexibility, movement and posture.
Therefore if you want to look good once you lose your fat, exercise is recommended.
One thing that must be noted though regarding exercise is that your body will adapt to become more effective at doing the same exercise, adapting to perform the same routines using less energy, so all exercise programs must be progressive.
For best results a combination of both exercise and diet is advised, however initially you may find it easier to apply one or the other, fully incorporating it into your lifestyle so it becomes second nature and not a chore and then adding the other later on.
For long term successful fat loss it is recommended that you do not go below a 15% drop of maintenance calories, as any more will ring safety alarm bells and your body will hold onto fat. This means calorie reductions should be based on your personal calorie requirements. Using a food diary app like my fitness pal can help you to understand your current calorie intake and the direction your moving in.
Following a diet over a prolonged period of time will eventually become ineffective as the body will adapt to function as normal on the calorie reduced diet and you will stop losing fat. This is where exercise selection becomes important as the aim should be to get lean while keeping calories as high as possible. You can increase your metabolic rate, the amount of calories you burn, by increasing your muscle mass, therefore weight training is the best long term solution in the gym.
Here are some tips for speeding up fat loss,
- Eat regularly
- Eat plenty of fibre
- Eat protein at every meal
- Opt for complex carbohydrates and vegetables as opposed to simple fast digesting carbohydrates most of the time.
- Have a regular cheat meal (1 meal once a week) to keep you sane. “One normal sized plate of whatever you want”.
- Learn how to properly lift weights. Once you have built more muscle mass usually over a few years, anaerobic activity or high intensity style exercise will be far more effective and you will be able to experience much faster fat loss and gain a lean muscular physique quite quickly.
The key to a fast body fat loss transformation is to already be in a position where you have a large amount of lean muscle mass and are on a relatively high calorie diet and then to simply reduce calories slightly and incorporate high intensity exercise along side your weight training program.
So if your not already following a well structured weight training program, carrying a lot of lean muscle mass and eating a high calories diet, get the idea of fast results out of your head, you need to get your body ready for fast results first. Go and get building your fat burning machine by first building some muscle.
To your success.