my top 4 fat loss tips
summer is right around the corner and beach body's are on the mind of many. adopt these 4 easy tricks for losing that stubborn fat.
Spring is here (hopefully the weather catches up soon) and that means summer vacations are right around the corner! Typically I start to hear the fat loss chatter pick up around this time of the year. As we all know the healthiest way to go about losing fat is working hard and having a little bit of patience. I’m sure you have all heard by now that there is no quick fix, but that doesn’t mean you can’t accelerate the process. While there are many factors that affect fat loss, some are more important than others. With the warmer months right around the corner here are My Top 4 Fat Loss Tips to prep for summer vacation.
1. Total Body Strength Training 2x/Week: Muscle is the furnace to our metabolism and building muscle mass increases that burn. In other words, the more muscle you have the more you burn throughout the day. For the general population, getting in 2 total body strength training workout per week is sufficient for maintain and building muscle mass. If your fitness levels are higher then you could complete 3 strength training workouts per week. I prefer total body workouts over focusing on one area because not only is your calorie burn during the workout is higher, but your metabolism is elevated for a longer period of time following the strength training.
2. Exercise at least 5 days/week (Including 2 Interval Workouts): This could be 2 different tips but I decided to combine them. If you aren’t getting in some sort of activity at least 5 days per week then it will be more difficult to loss fat at a higher rate. Not only should these 5 days include the strength training mentioned above, but 2 workouts should include interval training. Refer back to the March Newsletter and my article “The Top 2 Interval Workouts.” That leaves you with one more structured workout, which should be any form of steady state cardio. Simply put, perform an activity that elevates your heart rate to about 65% of your max heart rate and keep it there for 30-45 minutes. Those other two days can either be leisure activity or another steady state cardio workout.
3. Eliminate Processed Carbohydrates: There are multiple food groups I could have you eliminate from your diet but if I had to choose one it would be processed carbohydrates. This includes any added sugar or refined carbohydrate such as white bread/pasta/rice/wraps. These foods are stripped of nutrients and fiber, thus they don’t add much nutritional value to our diet. Even worse, processed carbohydrates spike our blood sugar which is the recipe for fat storage (and NOT fat loss)!
4. Get 7-8 Hours of Sleep Every Night (helps reduce stress): Chronic stress makes losing fat almost impossible. What is one of the main culprits for stress? Lack of sleep. Not getting enough sleep can be a factor for the cortisol hormone to be elevated throughout the day. Cortisol is released in response to stress and directly effects fat storage in the body. In a healthy individual cortisol is elevated when we first wake up but slowly declines throughout the day.
