How to Lose Body Fat
Let’s face it, losing body fat is not as easy as some may think.
It takes twice as long to lose body fat than it does to gain it. So the key is to be very conscious of what you are eating and realize how much energy you are expending. If you think that you can eat whatever you want, then sit on your bum the majority of the time that you are awake and think you won’t gain weight, you are sadly mistaken. You must take in less calories then you are burning through any type of physical activity. So, let’s talk about what we eat, what we burn, and how to lose body fat.
Food – A Necessity
We must all eat to sustain ourselves, but there is no reason why we cannot enjoy the food that we take in and still lose body fat. The key is to prepare healthy foods in a way that imitates the taste of the food we all love to eat, but that we know is fattening for us. Be very conscious of what you are putting into your mouths, and make wise choices when eating out, if you are not big on preparing your own meals. I highly recommend that you take the time to learn how to cook and prepare your own meals, it’s less expensive, you get more of a variety of healthy alternatives and and you can plan ahead.
Tips on creating healthy alternatives that still taste good.
-
If you have favorite recipes, many times you can substitute high fat ingredients with low fat ingredients. For example if a recipe calls for sour cream, you may be able to substitute low fat plain yogurt and have it still taste the same. Do your homework to find information on healthy substitutes. Try the web or your local library.
-
Season, season, season your food. A lot of the time, the reason why fattening foods taste so good is because of the way the food is seasoned. Whether it’s a particular spice, herb or rubs, prepare healthy foods in the same manner.
-
Include different textures in your meals (crunchy, creamy, etc.) Make your taste buds explode by having something tangy, tart, hot and sweet, when cooking healthy alternatives.
Burn, Burn, Burn Calories – Without Even Realizing It!
There a many ways to burn calories and not realize we are burning calories. One is to eat a small meal every 2-3 hours. This revs up your metabolism and ensures you are continually burning calories. You should also be chewing your food thoroughly. It can take 20-40 minutes before your stomach gets the message that it is full, so if you are stuffing your face without chewing, by the time your stomach feels full, you will have already eaten too much. So slow down people, sit and enjoy and savor every bite.
Incorporate physical activity into your daily life easily. Park your car further than your destination, so that you are walking more. Take the steps instead of the elevator. If the store you shop at is not far distance wise, then walk instead of hopping in your car to drive a short distance. While sitting watching television, do some bicep curls or any type of upper body strength training with some weights.
Believe it or not strength training is an easy way to continually burn calories while you are sitting and even sleeping. Building muscle burns the body fat even while at rest. Now, muscle weighs more than fat, so before you start getting obsessive with a body weight scale and weighing yourself all the time, please keep that in mind. Muscles weigh more than fat. So, instead of weighing yourself, use a tape measure instead. Also go by the way your clothes feel on you. The weight on the scale cannot determine how you look and feel. Just know that you are losing body fat, even while at rest, if you strength train and use weights as resistance.
In conclusion, if we stay conscious of what take into our system, and if you burn more than you take in, you will succeed in losing body fat.
Liked it
