Running, Cycling, Fitness Tips – The Inadvertent Athlete

5 simple steps for fat loss

I’m gonna make this quick and easy for you. Stop buying the latest diet books and gadgets that don’t work. Here it is, plain and simple. 5 steps to drop fat quickly and stay healthy:

1. Eat small meals every 2-3 hours. This kick-starts your metabolism and keeps you full all day. It also keeps your insulin levels constantso there is no more craving and crashing. If you eat the right foods, your body will be working (burning calories) all day long to process the food so, eating more ends up burning more calories. Sweet, huh?

2. Your meals should consist of lean protein and veggies every meal. No exceptions. You know what lean protein is: chicken, fish, turkey, and lean cuts of pork or beef. Try to eat lots of colored veggies. Stay away from the starchy ones like potatoes and rice except for directly after a workout (see step 3 below). If you can’t break out some chicken breast and broccoli, grab a protein bar and a handful of greens in capsule form. Veggies like broccoli, green beans, peppers, etc… are carbohydrates but the high fiber content makes them release more slowly. Some call these slow carbs. Eat them every meal. Since it’s nearly impossible to overeat fibrous carbs, eat as much of the veggies as you want, as long as they aren’t coated in butter or cheese. Oh yeah, you can eat butter and cheese sometimes but keep it under control. Don’t be a freak about fat, you need some fat, so get it from sources such as avocado, almonds, nuts, and fish or fish oil capsules. Taking a couple of fish oil capsules with each meal will balance out any of the saturated fats with heart-healthy omega 3′s. The best part about eating this way is that you don’t even need to worry about calories. If you are eating your veggies, you will be hard pressed to exceed your daily calorie maximums. A giant bag of broccoli from Costco, for example, only contains about 300 calories. No way  a human could choke down that whole bag in a day, and even if you did, it’s good for you! Throw in some fruit here and there a couple of times a day.

3. Save your carbs for the meal immediately following your workout. When you exercise with intensity, your body uses glycogen (carbohydrates) stored in muscle tissue and organs. When you stop exercising, you have a small window of time (1 hour to 90 minutes) to restock those supplies. After this window closes, your body will most likely store the energy in the carbohydrates as fat for later use. Your body will only convert to energy what it needs immediately. Every thing else gets stored. This is VERY important, maybe the biggest key to fat loss. Let me repeat it. Eat your high carb meals within an hour after your workout. Every other meal eat as step number 2.

4. Stop drinking your calories. Drink water, coffee, or tea (green or black). Learn to drink it, and like it, without sugar. If you just have to have sweetener, like I do for coffee, use Stevia. A large sweet tea from a typical restaraunt has 200 calories. 3 of those a day tacks on an extra 600 calories a day, 4200 calories a week, 1.25 pounds of fat per week. Adds up, doesn’t it? Making this change alone will make a huge difference if you currently drink sweetened beverages.

5. Workout for 5 hours per week. If you can do one hour of intense exercise every day, you will likely burn at least 500 calories in that hour. If you can burn 3,500 extra calories in one week, that is the equivalent of a one pound  fat loss per week. That, coupled with the changes in nutrition above should put you in a healthy calorie deficit, which is necessary for any type of weight loss. Because we are aiming for fat loss, the exercise aspect is extremely important. You need to be alternating days of strength training as well as cardio. Programs like P90X, Crossfit, and others are good resources if you don’t have access to a gym or trainer.

That’s it. No secrets here, sorry. Just plain old nutrition and exercise. It’s the only thing that has ever worked and kept the person healthy. Sure, there are other things I could tell you but the 5 steps above will make dramatic changes in your body in a short time. These steps are simple, not easy. It takes discipline to eat and work this way, but you are worth it. When you are adhering to these tips consistently, you will be seeing results weekly.

Now that you know what to do, get going! A new you is waiting.

Tags: Diet Plans, Fat Loss, Sports Nutrition, Strength Training