Reducing body fat can be a challenging task but there are ways to make this simpler and more effective. As a personal trainer and health coach, I help clients every day to do just this: reduce body fat. People often question how they can lower their body fat, tone their trouble areas and look their best. Is it diet, exercise or a combination of both? Read the ways I break it down so that you can achieve your goal of reducing fat body now!
By combining a cardiovascular routine for 45-60 minutes with weight training, you will develop lean muscle and reduce body fat. This will also help to increase your metabolic rate so that you will burn more calories throughout the day and start reducing body fat now!
By consuming a healthy meal plan and eating your vegetables, you boost your immune system and rev up your metabolism. Make it your goal to have 5 servings of vegetables a day to be on your way to a leaner, healthier you!
Integrate interval training into your fitness routine 2-3 days per week to increase your metabolism and reduce body fat. Interval training is high intensity and higher heart rate (in short periods) training. Interval training increases your heart rate for short periods and as a result your metabolism increases for a longer period post-workout. To begin, start with three minutes at an easy pace, then one minute at high intensity. Repeat this pattern for 30 minutes. You can choose to perform interval training with running, biking or any other exercise you choose.
It is impossible to become sculpted and lean, and reduce body fat, through doing cardiovascular exercise alone. So lose the jiggle and add a weighted workout into your fitness regimen to reach your fitness goals. Strength training increases your metabolism so that you will burn calories even when you are at rest. The reason this metabolic increase occurs is because you are increasing muscle, which requires more energy, hence burning more calories. Perform a strength training routine 2-3 days per week with 2-3 sets of 12-18 repetitions to reduce body fat and look great!
Consume vegetables, lean meats and fruit daily. In order to reduce body fat, you must make your eating plan healthy. Eliminate high fat foods, fried foods and candy. Choose whole grain and high fiber meals. Drink eight glasses of water daily, and limit or eliminate alcohol. Consume five to six smaller meals a day to increase your metabolism. You will enjoy your new lifestyle of eating healthy because you can eat mini meals all day!
By adding plyometrics (jumping exercises) into your workout program, you will target your core, increase your metabolism, reduce body fat and feel a great burn. Some great plyometrics exercises are the jump squat, jump lunges, and the burpee. Ready to reduce your body fat and have a toned tight core? Then add these exercises.
By exercising 5 days per week for one hour, you will burn 600-700 calories per day. This all add up to a 1-2 pound weight loss per week. If you combine this with a healthy diet you can lose as much as four pounds per week.
One of my favorite tricks to get me more motivated to work out and speed up my intensity is to upload a new playlist, with motivating and more upbeat songs. If you listen to the same one over and over, it can make your routine mundane and you'll lose that pep in your step. One of my favorite things to try is iTunes radio. The songs are always fresh, upbeat and never get boring. Plus, they keep my body on its toes since I have to go at different speeds, depending on the beat of the songs. This burns fat since your body is constantly changing consistency in speed and intensity, much more so than a consistent pace will.
Yoga is so amazing for burning fat fast! People think that because yoga is typically a slow movement exercise, it is a waste of time, but in conjunction with your regular workout routine, it actually helps improve your fat burning abilities. Why? It calms the body down, which sends the stress hormones that store fat, such as cortisol, right out of your body. It also helps to tone your whole body, and cleanse the lymph system. The lymph fluids in the body can either help you release toxins that store fat, or they can cause you to hold onto toxins that store fat. People don't usually consider that fluid, motion-based movements like yoga are the best way to promote lymph flow and enhance your fat-burning abilities and release toxins that hold onto fat. Any type of movement moves lymph, but yoga is one of the best!
Whether or not you think you need superfoods, research proves that some, such as cacao, acai and maca, are great for your hormones, stress levels and your metabolism. Each of these three are ones I use regularly, and ones I would recommend anyone try for added fat burning abilities. Cacao contains magnesium that lowers stress, and it naturally satisfies your appetite, plus since it is raw cocoa powder, it is lower in calories than other chocolate foods. Cacao is also a natural stimulant that provides consistent metabolic burning to the body. Acai is full of antioxidants and omega 3 fats that have been proven to reduce stress, reduce fat storage and aid in preventing depression and inflammation. Maca is the hormone-balancing superfood. It prevents you from lacking energy to work out, lowers your stress during "that time of the month," as well as the rest of the time and it provides your body with thyroid-boosting amino acids. Each of these superfoods help to burn fat in different ways that I would suggest anyone try. Put them in your smoothies with some spinach, berries, ice, stevia and almond milk for a delicious, fat-burning whole food shake that tastes like a caramel, berry and chocolate dream!
Since we've already mentioned how important greens are for fat-burning, let's talk about why. Greens are full of chlorophyll, which cleanses the body, releases fat and prevents fat storage. It also cures those nasty sugar cravings and enhances your mood to prevent depression, bingeing and overeating. My favorite concentrated source of the bright green pigment chlorophyll is spirulina. It is rich in amino acids, Vitamin B12, high in protein and low in calories. Add it to your smoothies and be prepared to feel like a fat-burning machine that is also happier, has more energy and suffers less inflammation from those great workouts!
If you want to burn fat, the sofa isn't your friend! Get off your bum and move! You don't need to jog around your house to get the benefits, but do more chores, such as laundry, straightening shelves, cooking your own meals, organizing and get up and move every hour. As an added benefit, your metabolism will start to increase, and you'll have a clean house to boot! Every little bit of movement makes a huge difference.
I'm not telling you that you have to get rid of your coffee, but I will tell you adding in a few teas in your day will help you burn fat fast. Try yerba mate, green tea and white tea, which have been shown to have the best fat burning abilities. They also lower cortisol in the body, so they help to relieve stress that can make you crave sugar, carbs and high fat foods. Use stevia and cinnamon to sweeten instead of sugar as well.
Coconut flour is such a unique food. Not only does it help thicken your foods, but it also tastes great! It is high in protein and thickens recipes without the use of gluten or grains. It also contains little fat and tons of fiber. I use 3 tbsp. in my smoothies to thicken them and add in 9 grams of protein. Plus, coconut flour is so cakey and moist, so it can be used in baking, made into pudding with almond milk and stevia and used in homemade energy bars to thicken up instead of using lots of nuts and dried fruit. Any way you use it, you'll benefit from its fat burning abilities. It excretes fats out of the body through the insoluble fiber content and increases the production of the thyroid-boosting hormone. It is also easy to digest and won't cause you to gain weight like fattier coconut foods, such as coconut butter. Try it as soon as you can! It tastes like vanilla cake and is one of my favorite foods to add to most any recipe.
Lemon juice is a great natural cleansing aid. It also contains lots of Vitamin C, which contains antioxidants that offer immune-boosting and fat-burning abilities. Lemons help to alkalize the bloodstream and contain compounds that cleanse the liver, which is your fat-burning organ. Take care of your liver with lemons! It will thank you and you will drop weight. Squeeze lemons on salads, in water, in teas and juice with them. I even squeeze them in my smoothies. It increases the tastes of the other ingredients and you won't taste the lemons, I promise!
Let's talk protein powder for a moment, shall we? Many people think whey protein is the best for losing weight. Well, I'm here to tell you it isn't! I used to use whey and my body stored fat more in my thighs and butt than when I switched to hemp. I also craved sugar more using whey, since it has been shown to increase the glycemic index. Hemp contains all the muscle-toning and lean amino acids that whey does, yet it is also extremely alkaline, where whey is acidic. Whey is also highly processed, whereas hemp protein is not. Hemp protein is vegan, raw, high in protein, most brands are organic and cold-pressed. Hemp protein is basically a whole food, made from hemp seeds. It even has a delightfully nutty taste and I think it tastes amazing with some vanilla extract in smoothies. Plus, hemp is high in fiber that fills you up, cleanses the digestive tract and is easy to digest.
All those low carb ice creams, low calorie cookies, diet cereals, protein bars and processed diet foods are not helping you lose weight. Quit buying them, save your money and eat real food. Your cravings will go away, your mood will improve and you'll lose weight really fast! Just eat real food- period. Get rid of boxed cereals, all processed breads and anything you buy in a box, can or container that contains additives, excess carbs and grains, artificial sweeteners and anything you don't recognize on the label.
One of my pet peeves involves products that say they are healthy, yet contain added sugar, unnecessary fats and preservatives, even in seemingly healthy, organic foods. This is one thing I always tell people to put as a top priority when shopping for food at the store. Turn the package over and read the label. Even unprocessed sugars like organic cane juice, evaporated cane juice, cane sugar, organic sugar, sucanat, maple syrup, molasses and agave are all sources of high amounts of sugar. They will not help you lose weight, and will in fact, just make you crave more food. Make stevia the only sweetener you use, if you use any at at all.
I think raw nut butters that have no additives are wonderfully clean foods, but they still have tons of calories for a small serving. Plus, I don't know about you, but who can really quit eating those delicious nut butters with just a few bites? Not me! If you struggle with portion control, do yourself and your temptations a favor and just don't buy them. As an added bonus, you'll save money since they're super pricey anyway. I use high fiber and omega 3 rich seeds to get my healthy fats instead, because they are lower in calories and higher in nutrition. These include hemp seeds, chia seeds and flax seeds. Add them anywhere you like and consume about 3 tbsp. per day for the best benefits.
Now that you know the best ways to reduce body fat safely, effectively and rather quickly, what are you waiting for? How will you use these tips to reduce your body fat?