With so many diet fads and get-thin-quick schemes, it can be tough to know what method is the best one for burning fat. If you are overweight and want to slim down and build muscle to replace your fat, there are many things that you can do to help yourself.
It requires work and commitment, but burning fat isn’t as difficult as some people make it out to be. Read on for some of the most important practices when it comes to burning fat and keeping the pounds off.
The saying that “abs are made in the kitchen” is completely true, which is why the first thing you should do when trying to lose weight is to reduce your caloric intake. However, you don’t want to immediately cut your calories in half – instead you want to gradually decrease them to allow your metabolism time to catch up.
If you cut out too many calories too quickly, your body will go into starvation mode which will make it difficult to burn fat. Begin by cutting 100-200 calories per day, then make smaller calorie reductions every week until you reach your calorie-deficit goal.
While it may seem counterintuitive, it is actually beneficial to eat more fat when you are trying to burn your personal and visceral fat. Good fats like fish, nuts, eggs, and butter all have health benefits and help you to build muscle and recover more quickly from workouts.
Combine this fat intake with an increase in lean protein intake and you’ll be doing a favor for your body and your heart. It has been shown that your body burns the most calories when you eat protein. Healthy, lean proteins include fish, eggs, soy, and poultry.
While reducing your calories, you will want to train with weights to encourage muscle growth. While you may think that cardio is the best way to shed pounds, research has proven that weight training is actually more efficient for burning fat as it will continue to burn calories for 39 hours after your workout. In addition to this, you need to build muscle to keep your metabolism functioning at a high rate which will contribute to burning fat.
Experiment with different weight training programs to see what works best for you. If you are busy and don’t have time to get to the gym 4-5 times a week, consider a full body workout done 3 times weekly. If you happen to have more time and enjoy going to the gym, upper and lower body splits are great programs to help you build muscle.
Burning fat is generally a simple equation of calories in vs calories out. If you follow these simple steps, you’ll be sure to burn more calories than you consume. Within just a few days, you’ll feel stronger, more energetic, and may even notice visual changes. Many people think that they need to go through months of agony to reach their ideal weight, but in reality all it takes is a little bit of effort and patience.
