The Practical Way to Lose Fat
Losing fat is not difficult. I have been coaching clients to break through plateaus and send their fat cells running for cover for years now. So why does this continue to be an elusive goal for so many people, who “struggle” just to lose a few inches?
We can address this by creating a practical guide to lose fat. Is this a special diet that will have the pounds melting off? No. Is it a secret workout program that causes you to burn fat while you sleep? Nope, not that, either — your body already does it. So what on earth can we share?
There is a secret, over 2,000 years old, that was leaked to the general public by the father of medicine, Hippocrates. Somewhere along the way, it was lost again. Let's bring it back to light. It goes like this:
“If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.”
Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it?
The problem is that in our efforts to find something — fast — we tend to resort to equations and formulas that should magically spit out the right number of calories, or eliminate entire food groups like sugars or carbohydrates in our quest to make our fat cells cry (what some people call “sweat.”)
The triathlete will benefit by reducing fat and increasing muscle. It's not so much your weight that may slow you down, it's the percentage of that weight that comes from fat! So how do you target the love handles and saddle bags without losing your guns or wheels, as biceps and thigh muscles are affectionately termed in the bodybuilding world?
1. Move more, eat more.
Whoa — wait a second! We all understand the idea behind moving more. That means burning more calories. But eat more? You thought it was eat less, didn't you?The truth is that you must eat more: more intelligently. You must eat more nutrient-dense foods. In turn, you will consume fewer calories. Less calories does not mean less nutrition, when done correctly.
Even engineered foods (shakes, protein bars, and sports drinks) contain little nutritional value for the calories that go with them ... although they ARE great for when you are on the run or stuck in a meeting. There is nothing that beats nature's own packaging – fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats, and so on. If you want to remain satisfied and full, try consuming over 50% of your calories from fresh fruit and vegetables. Your calories automatically go down, while your intake of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients goes up. The idea is to consume foods as close to their natural state as possible. This means you'll do most of your shopping on the outer edge, or perimeter of the grocery store where the meats, eggs, and fresh produce exists, rather than in the middle, where everything comes in boxes, bags, and cans.