1) Train With Weights
Working out with weights when trying to lose body fat has
numerous important benefits. First, an intense weight training session burns calories
during the actual workout.
Second, an extremely important benefit is that intense
weight training elevates your metabolism for up to 39
hours after your actual workout. In other words, because
of the intense weight workout, your metabolism has been
stimulated where you are now burning more calories while
you are doing nothing.
Carbohydrates power intense weight training sessions.
The more intense the session, the more you deplete your
carbohydrate stores and the more fat is burned
during the recovery phase, i.e. after the workout. In
other words, as the intensity of the training increases
there is a proportionate increase in fat burning after
the workout.
One study showed that 15 exercise sessions per month (50
minute sessions at 50 percent of oxygen uptake) could lead
to an extra 2 plus pounds per month of fat loss, strictly
from the elevated metabolism and extra calories burned -
while doing nothing! That's an extra 26 pounds plus, of
fat burned per year.
Find Out What Your Basal &
Resting Metabolic Rates Are,
Click Here!
Another extremely important aspect of fat loss that occurs
from training with weights is adding leas muscle to your body.
Lean muscle is "metabolically active", i.e., muscle burns
calories even while doing nothing. So, the more lean muscle
you have, the higher your resting metabolism and the more
calories you burn each day while doing nothing.
Studies have estimated that for each pound of muscle that
you add to your body, you burn another 35 to 50 calories per
day while doing nothing. So, an extra 10 pounds of muscle
will burn approximately 350 to 500 calories a day, or an extra
pound of fat every 7 to 10 days, without making any other
changes.
This is essential to taking off the fat and keeping it off.
You see, when you add muscle to your body, you greatly increase
the number of calories your burn each day. So, once you achieve
your fat loss goals you can start eating more food without
putting the fat back on, as long as you have built muscle!
On the flip side, if you don't train with weights while dieting
and losing weight, two very bad things will occur. First, at
least half of the weight you lose will be muscle. And this
causes number two, which is that your metabolism gets slower,
causing progress to eventually grind to a halt, leading to
gaining all the weight back and more.
As you can see, training with weights is an extremely powerful
and necessary component of any successful weight loss program.
2) Drink More Water
I know, I know, we've all heard this one over and over again.
But how many of us really drink enough water? I'm talking at
least 10 8 ounce glasses of water a day, minimum. You should
really try to take in a full gallon of water each day.
Why, you ask? Let me count the ways. First of all, our bodies are over 70% water. That should tell
you something right there. And you all know that you can
go much longer without food than you can without water.
The body needs a lot of water in order to maintain its daily
functions efficiently. In addition, water helps to flush
out harmful toxins, as well as prime the body for fat loss.
If your body isn't getting enough water, it does everything
it can to hold on to the water it does have. The problem
with this, is the way it holds onto the water. You see,
over 70% of your muscle is made up of water. It helps
to give your muscles that full, pumped look (along with
glycogen).
However, if your body is not taking in enough water, that
water is used for other things, leaving you bloated. And
the way to get rid of that excess water, believe it or not,
is to take in enough water.
This will rid you of that excess water weigh that bloats
you, and begin to help your body run more efficiently and
priming it to begin dropping body fat.
Once you begin taking in enough water, your body starts
dropping weight, possibly 4 or 5 pounds in the first week.
Now, this is mostly water weight. However, doing so does
optimizes your bodily functions, allowing it to run more
efficiently and start burning stored body fat for energy.
Here's another little trick you can use. Instead of just
drinking water, begin drinking ice cold water. You see,
there is a metabolic cost to eating. In other words,
the digestion of food, as you'll read about in the next
tip, takes calories. Well, so does drinking ice cold
water.
The body needs to heat up this water in order to be
able to use it properly and doing so takes energy, i.e.,
calories. You can burn another 50 to 100 calories a day
by drinking one half gallon to a gallon of ice cold water
per day.
It doesn't seem like much. However, in addition to all
the other benefits of taking in enough water, by drinking
ice cold water, you can drop almost a full pound of fat
each month, or 12 pounds per year. Not too bad, if you ask me.
3) Eat 6 Meals A Day
Meal Frequency (i.e., the number of meals you eat each
day) could be the most important aspect of your nutrition
program. If you do this right you will build muscle, burn
fat, and with a proper resistance training program, be well
on your way to achieving the body of your dreams.
But first, I must burst your bubble. What you are about
to read isn't sexy, it's not exotic, secret, or the uncovering
of some super Eastern European nutrition system that led to
tons of gold medals in weight lifting. I'm also not going
to tout some super juice, or specific vegetable that you
need to eat outrageous quantities of in order to achieve
your goals.
What it is, is sound advice that works. Do this correctly,
and you will be well on your way to fitness nirvana. The
thing is, most people know about it, yet few actually follow
through with it and put it into action.
I admit to being one of them. I've always been in "good"
shape from playing sports, working out with weights and eating
right. However, I was in "good" shape and not "great" shape
because I did things right about 75% of the time.
I ate 6 meals a day, most of the time. I consumed enough
protein in each meal, most of the time. I worked out and
worked out intensely enough, most of the time.
Why is that, you might wonder. Well, I'm glad you asked.
You see, it takes motivation, persistence, planning, and a
little bit of sacrifice. Sounds horrible, doesn't it? Don't
worry, it's not. But as I've stated before, nothing worth
achieving comes easy. Don't get me wrong, it is simple, it's
just not easy. But it can be pretty painless, if you have the
right mindset.
So, what is it, already? Okay, okay, here you go. Eat six
meals a day. No excuses, no exceptions, no nothing. Just do
it. I told you it was simple. You might be ready to toss me
in the trash because you already know such obvious advice.
But let me ask you this, how many consecutive days have you
eaten six nutritious meals? If you are like most people.
probably not many.
So if you know it's an extremely important part of achieving
your goals and building the body you want, why aren't you
doing it more often? I think one reason is that those of us
in the industry have failed in hammering home the absolute
importance of eating six meals a day. Sure, we say it, but
if so few people are doing it, we must not be stating our
case very well.
Reason number two is making sure you are eating six proper, nutritious meals a
day takes work. It takes a time commitment, among other
sacrifices. And it's not just the time it takes to make the
meals, or the time to eat them. It also involves other
aspects of your life.
For example, socializing, going shopping, playing sports
on the weekends, etc. If you eat six times a day, you need
to eat every 2 or 3 hours, tops. What are you going to do,
sit home all day every day so you can be near your food?
Of course not. But you will need to plan ahead. This could mean shopping
and then cooking most of your food once a week, putting
each meal in a microwaveable container, and then carrying
meals to work with you.
You may need to invest in a high quality thermos (or two
or three) and make your favorite protein shakes to take with
you when you are going to be out and about for a while, or
bringing some protein bars with you instead.
You may also need to withstand comments from friends and
family. In our culture today, most social functions center
around food - thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, even labor day
and memorial day are times to get together with friends for a
cookout.
Sure, you may be able to eat some of the food available.
Even so, you most likely will be around long enough for at
least one other meal, in which you will need to be prepared
with something you brought with you.
This may require turning down the food offered and whipping out a
protein bar, thus dealing with the questions and comments, usually
negative, that will most likely arise.
And hey, how many of us have the well meaning mother or
grandmother that assures us we are too skinny, we must eat more,
offers us everything in site, and just won't take a polite no
thank you for an answer?
I know, eating right may not be easy, but it is necessary if you
truly want to achieve your best body, and in the shortest amount
of time possible.
I've given my lecture on the necessity of eating six times a day.
Now let's talk about what this can actually do for you in terms of
achieving your muscle building and fat burning goals.
Our genetics haven't really changed during our existence.
Initially, food was very difficult to come by and our ancestors
never knew when they were going to be getting their next meal.
It was only natural that our bodies became very efficient at
storing excess calories just in case they were needed at a later
time in order to fend off starvation.
That was great back then. It helped keep many people alive.
Now, however, when our next meal is a phone call or fast food
restaurant away, it's not so good. Especially since those calories
are stored as ugly body fat. Do any of us really want to look like
a bear on the verge of hibernation? I think it's safe to say that
the answer to that question is no.
This is one of the reasons for eating six meals a day. In general,
there are three things that can lead our bodies to storing
calories as fat. One would be to consume a very large meal.
This alerts our body to the fact that this could very well be our
last meal for a long time to come, so we better preserve as many
calories as we can (as body fat, of course) just in case our next
meal doesn't come for a long time.
The next reason is going too long between meals. Again, this
kicks in our bodies "starvation" mode and it stores calories as
fat because it's not sure when it will be getting its next meal.
A third reason would be a sudden and severe restriction in daily
calorie consumption. Just like going too long between meals, this
kicks the "starvation" mode into action, causing the storage of
body fat.
Now, what do most people do when they decide they need to lose
weight and go on a diet? Correct, they severely restrict
calories as well as going a long time between each meal.
This may work at first but eventually causes the exact opposite
result that they are looking to accomplish. Their metabolism
slows down and they start storing fat, even on so few calories
a day.
Add to this mix, that most people who diet don't add weight
training to their program and you have a real recipe for disaster.
Without adding weight training, at least half of the weight lost
will be muscle, not fat, which slows down your metabolism even
more.
If you restrict your calories too severely, even if you are weight
training, a good percentage of your weight lost will be muscle,
as your body doesn't have enough calories to sustain the muscle
it has, let alone build new muscle.
This also goes for going too long between meals. If your body
goes too long between meals, not getting the necessary calories,
protein, and other nutrients, it goes into a catabolic state.
In other words, it starts eating your muscle for energy. This
would slow down your metabolism, leading to the storage of more
Body fat. It's a vicious cycle.
In addition, anyone who severely restricts calories and goes a
long time between meals will hit upon the first reason - eating
an excessively large meal, otherwise known in diet speak as
binging. And most of these calories will go straight to being
stored as body fat.
A study published in Metabolism (Karbowsa, J., et al. [2001]
"Increase of lipogenic enzyme mRNA levels in rat white adipose
tissue after multiple cycles of starvation/refeeding. 50:734-738.)
looked at this very same issue using animals.
The study showed that cycles of starvation and refeeding (i.e.,
binging) led to an upgrade of lipogenic enzymes. These enzymes
promote body fat synthesis. We possess these same lipogenic enzymes.
So, if you want to lose body fat or keep off the fat you've lost,
don't starve yourself. If you do that, you are only going to
binge, leading you to put the fat back on.
Now, how do you avoid these mistakes? You eat smaller, more
frequent meals. If you eat every two or three hours, always
having a prepared nutritious meal, shake or bar handy, you are
much less likely to binge.
By not severely restricting calories and adding weight training, you
will lose body fat, not muscle, thereby not only preventing your metabolism from slowing down, but also speeding up your metabolism due to the added muscle from the weight training.
4) Eat More Protein
Yes, it's important to keep your protein intake high when dieting
to make sure that you don't burn off any muscle tissue in your
quest to get ripped. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm
talking about taking in protein in order to boost your metabolism
and burn more fat, in addition to helping preserve and build your
lean muscle tissue.
In a study published in the American Journal of Physiology, one
group was fed a high protein diet (just over one gram per pound
of bodyweight per day) while the second group consumed a protein
diet near equal to that of the RDA.
The group eating the high protein diet burned more fat than the
group consuming protein near equal to the RDA.
One reason for this could be an increased "thermic" effect.
The thermic effect of the RDA group was elevated 16% after eating.
However, in the high protein group the thermic effect increased
42% after eating, almost 3 times that of the RDA group.
This thermic effect of digesting your food peaks approximately
one hour after eating. Spreading your daily caloric intake over
6 meals a day, eating every 2 to 3 hours, helps to take advantage
of the increased metabolic rate that accompanies eating.
In other words, the more often you eat, the higher your
metabolic rate, i.e. the number of calories your body burns each
day.
In addition, by adding more protein to each meal, you also
increase your metabolism. Your body requires more energy (i.e.
calories) to process protein than it does to digest carbohydrates.
Do you understand what that means? Think about it. Think about
all those people and so called experts that have continually
said that a calorie is a calorie.
THIS SIMPLY IS NOT TRUE! Your body's metabolic rate is affected
by the number of meals you eat, the frequency of those meals (how
much time passes between each meal consumed) and the macro nutrient
composition of those meals.
A calorie is not simply a calorie and they are not equal.
Depending on the number of meals, frequency of meals, and macro
nutrient composition of meals, the same person's metabolism
will be different on two very different meals plans, EVEN IF
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CALORIES ARE THE SAME!
Let's review some simple changes you can make right now in
your nutrition program to rapidly increase your body's ability
to not only build muscle but burn fat also.
Simple Changes To Rapidly Increase Fat Burning
1) Eat 6 smaller meals per day, as opposed to 2 or 3 larger
ones. This will ensure that you supply your body with the
nutrients necessary to build muscle and burn fat, as well as
increase your resting metabolic rate.
It will also prevent your body from kicking into "starvation"
mode, which can happen when you go too long between meals.
If this happens, your body will start burning muscle for energy
and increase your body fat stores, as well as slowing down your
metabolism. All of these are things you want to avoid. As a
matter of fact, they are the exact opposite of what you are
trying to achieve.
2) Eat a high protein diet consisting of at least one gram
of protein per pound of bodyweight. This helps ensure that
your body has the protein available to maintain a positive
nitrogen balance, which can lead to an increase in your muscles
mass.
It will also increase your metabolic rate, allowing you to burn
more body fat than a low protein diet, without as large a decrease
in your daily caloric intake, which will also help avoid the
"starvation" mode discussed in the previous paragraph.
Try these simple changes in your nutrition program to help you
rapidly increase your muscle mass, burn off unwanted body fat and
achieve the ripped muscular body that you've always wanted. Or,
for you women, the long, lean, sculpted, sexy body you've always
wanted.
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The information contained in this e-mail is strictly for
informational purposes. You should consult a physician
before beginning any new nutrition, exercise, or dietary
supplement program. The information contained in this email
are not meant to provide medical advice. Specific medical
advice should be obtained from a licensed health-care
practitioner.
Gregg Gillies and Build Lean Muscle Publishing will not
assume any liability, nor be held responsible for any
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