Exercise and Fat Loss!

A lot of people are confused when it comes to exercise and fat loss, and how these two are related. In many cases when people want fat loss, they go on a diet, but neglect exercise, and then this is common:

'I've lost so much weight my clothes are hanging off me, yet I've still got a spare tyre around my waist!'

Is this familiar? Or maybe you've just noticed how many women can be really thin but still have love handles on the waist. Do you know that anorexics can actually INCREASE their body fat percentage as they drop weight? Why does this happen?

Exercise and Fat Loss: Womens bodies are wonderfully designed for a specific purpose: to produce healthy babies!

In famine stricken countries women still manage to give birth every day to healthy children, though they may be malnourished themselves. This is because of the lovely fat stores that our bodies will fight viciously to protect. So if you thought that losing fat was hard, you were totally RIGHT.

It is a lot easier for men. In one study it was found that women could carry at least twenty percent of their body weight without raising the level of calories burned. So that means if you weigh 120 pounds and get on the treadmill holding a 12 pound dumbbell in each hand your calorie expenditure won't be any higher than if you had nothing in your hands.

This is because our bodies are designed to be able to carry a baby with maximum efficiency. Women also have lower resting metabolic rates than men, which means that we burn fewer calories to maintain our basic life functions than men do. We also have larger fat cells than men.

I've noticed that when I do a vigorous workout with my husband Jaye, I will work every bit as hard as him and my heart rate will be just as high, but when we check the calorie burn afterwards on our heart rate monitors, his calorie burn is usually DOUBLE what mine is.

Exercise and Fat Loss: So, if you're a woman carrying an extra 20 pounds or so of fat, it can be extremely hard to lose!

Yes, unfortunately, it can take a while. Patience is required! The sad thing is though, the more effort you put into losing weight, the more you are focusing all your energies on a situation that is exactly what you don't want - being overweight. And what we focus on we create. So often, when you become focused on how much you don't want to be overweight, you just become more overweight.

So when you need to get rid of some fat, the best thing is to forget about the fat altogether, and shift the focus to something wonderful and positive, such as GAINING health and fitness.

Exercise and Fat Loss - Tip 1 - Fuel Yourself Properly!

If you eat too few calories and neglect strength building exercise, you will certainly get smaller, but your body fat percentage may not go down all that significantly, leading to the skinny fat dilemma. You have got to EAT to have enough energy for vigorous exercise and you have got to eat to burn fat.

So, no calorie restriction nonsense here.

Eat the right foods, which is, basically, PLANT foods, i.e. fruits and vegetables, and cut the junk - which is everything else.

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Exercise and Fat Loss - Tip 2 - Cut your fat consumption

"The fat you eat is the fat you wear" according toDr John McDougall. A low fat diet is crucial to your success. While you can lose weight on any kind of diet when you are restricting calories, your body's favorite choice of fuel is carbohydrates, so you will find yourself hungry, undernourished, binge prone and fed up if your carbohydrate intake is low. By eating a high fat diet, you are automatically going to be lowering your carb intake.

You may LOSE your desire to exercise, as you won't have enough carbs in your system to fuel your exercise attempts. So, when you need to burn off some fat, you need CARBS in your system, this means eating a LOW FAT diet, and getting the bulk of your calories from high energy carbohydrates like fruits and vegetables.

Exercise and Fat Loss - Tip 3 - Weight Training

The MOST important thing to do for the fastest results is strength training. Adding strength training into your exercise schedule is crucial. And you don't have to worry that you'll suddenly look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, that does not happen by accident.

Women who bulk up do so very deliberately and with an ENORMOUS amount of effort, it will never happen accidentally. Lifting heavy weights will just make you more toned and help with fat loss. You can have beautifully toned sleek muscles while lifting heavy weights. If you look too big, you are probably too fat, not too muscular.

You don't have to train with weights, bodyweight training is just as effective, but you have to push it hard, I recommend the Insanity Program if you prefer bodyweight training to weights.

By incorporating strength training into your life, you will also be sending the message to your body that muscle mass is not optional, it is required! Your body responds to the demands placed on it, and if you do not use your muscles, your body gets the message that they are not so important, and THAT is when you lose muscle mass and retain the fat stores, leading to the dreaded skinny fat dilemma.

For weight training you should choose weights that are challenging enough so that by the end of your set you are struggling. If you plan on 12 reps and could easily do 15 then you are lifting far too light.

You should also change your routine every 4-6 weeks so that you avoid plateaus. The changes you make do not have to be huge. Just mix it up. Choose some different exercises that work the same muscle groups. Or switch from doing sets with rest breaks in between to doing super-sets and no rest breaks.

The more muscle groups that are engaged in the exercise the better. So it is better to do large compound exercises such as pull ups, pushups and dips, than it is to do preacher curls. Although preacher curls definitely have their place.

When you do pull ups you are working multiple muscles all at the same time. Whereas with a preacher curl you are just working your biceps. So make sure you are doing major compound exercises as well as isolated muscle exercises.

Major compound exercises for legs include squats, lunges, leg press and deadlifts. These work your whole leg as well as your back and your abs as stabilizers.

Exercise and Fat Loss: The more muscle you build the more fat you will burn and the SMALLER your body will get!

Not bigger! The people who bulk up, such as bodybuilders, do so very deliberately with very specific programmes. Simply having a lot of lean muscle mass will not mean a large physique, quite the opposite.

Muscle is smaller than fat and you will get tinier and able to fit into the tiniest items in your wardrobe. So don't be scared of weights or strength training, it is crucial, and keep pushing yourself to lift heavier weights or to do more reps so that you are always challenged.

Remember too not to take long rest breaks between sets. 15-30 seconds between sets is more than enough. Time your rest breaks. You are not doing yourself any favors if you sit for minutes at a time between sets, you might as well start at the beginning again if your rest break has been too long.

Exercise and Fat Loss- Tip 4 - Cardio

Weight training and cardio go hand in hand.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that you should do ONLY cardio until the excess fat comes off!

Cardio is an essential component in exercise and fat loss, however it HAS to work together with building up your lean muscle mass with strength training.

It takes at least 20 minutes of cardio for your body to get into a fat burning zone, so try for a minimum of 30 minutes daily, but anything more that you can fit in is a bonus.

When you are doing cardio it is essential that you are working hard enough. You should be working out at between 70 and 85% of your maximum heart rate.

Exercise and Fat Loss: To work out your maximum heart rate subtract your age from 220

For example, if you are 30 years old, the formula is as follows:

220 - 30 = 190.

Therefore you should keep your heart rate between 70% (133) and 85% (161) of its maximum.

Exercise and Fat Loss - Tip 5 - Wear a heart rate monitor!

It's best to wear a heart rate monitor when you work out so that you can make sure you are always working hard enough.

You should NOT be gasping for breath when you're doing endurance cardio, such as running or cycling, but you should be breathing much more heavily than normal and you should be sweating.

However, if you're doing interval training: short bursts of working out at your absolute MAXIMUM, followed by short rest periods, usually not done for an extended amount of time - between 20 and 40 minutes is usual, then you WILL be gasping for breath, and this is GREAT too. If your fitness is up to the challenge, then adding in some high intensity interval training (HIIT) a couple of times a week is a fabulous idea.

Exercise and Fat Loss- Tip 6 - Certain types of cardio are better for fat loss than others!

Running is FANTASTIC! Walking on a treadmill at an incline is also great. The Elliptical is great. Exercises that engage more parts of your body are the best.

A stationary bike is less optimal for weight loss. However, cycling outdoors when you're standing in your seat and going up hills is also GREAT! And of course, spinning is GREAT!

Make it fun, make it count. Make it work as many muscles as possible.

If you swing your arms vigorously while walking uphill on the treadmill you will be burning many more calories than if you hold onto the sides.

If you're running, incorporate some interval training, for example, run as fast as you can for 30 seconds, then walk for 30 seconds, repeat. This will keep it fun, keep it varied, and also keep your heart rate pumping!

Exercise and Fat Loss- Tip 7 - Work Out Hard! Always make it Count! Forget about the 'fat burning zone'

The so called 'fat burning zone' is the zone where more of the calories burned come from fat than from your glycogen stores. However working out in the 'fat burning zone' is a total waste of time, as it is such a low intensity zone that you might as well not bother. When you work out at a low intensity, you do nothing for your overall RATE of calorie burn.

So for example, if you work out for half an hour at a low intensity, you might be lucky and burn 100 calories. But that's it for the day. Whereas if you work out at a super high intensity for 30 minutes and burn 300 calories, you will also raise the rate that you will burn calories for the rest of the day! So you don't just burn 300 calories, you burn countless more calories even while you're sleeping, because the high intensity raises your overall calorie burn rate

But it's about so much more than just calorie burn. In fact forget all about that - exercising hard makes your entire BODY function better and more efficiently and increasing your lean muscle mass turns you into a fat burning MACHINE. Which is just beyond awesome.

This is why you must ALWAYS make it count. Even if all you've got is 20 minutes, make that 20 minutes amazing!! Push it, and push it hard!

Exercise and Fat Loss- Tip 8 - Home Workouts

I am a fan of home workouts as it is great for when you don't manage to get to gym or when your time schedule is more limited. It is a lot easier to fit in an hour long workout at home then it is to get yourself to the gym for an hour long workout. So I definitely think having some home workout DVD's around is a good thing.

I love the P90X Workouts which are FABULOUS! P90X is an all in one home workout system to get you seriously in shape. For a full review of this home workout system click the above link.

I also highly recommend the following home workout systems:

The Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred is GREAT for when you don't have a lot of time. Consisting of 3 twenty five minute workouts that will kick your butt, HARD, this is perfect for the person who doesn't have much time available. Anyone can find 25 minutes in their day.

The Insanity program is brought to you by the same folks who brought you P90X. It is every bit as hectic as P90X, in fact it may be even more hectic, but it requires no equipment at all. It is all body weight exercises and (frantic) cardio. I absolutely love it. Workouts are between 40 minutes and an hour.

Exercise and Fat Loss- Tip 9 - Work out at least five days a week!

The more the better. Aim for every day, that way if you only manage five days a week you will still be successful.

It is important to have rest days, but you can still exercise on your rest days. You can go for a walk, or do some light yoga. It is important to keep up the routine so that exercise becomes something that you just DO, without question, like brushing your teeth.

It is a myth that you can exercise for only 30 minutes three times a week and still see results. Nonsense I'm afraid. If you want to see results you have to put in the time, consistently. Maybe all you can do is 30 minutes each day, that is perfect, as long as you do it EVERY day! If you work smart it doesn't necessarily have to be that hard - but it DOES need to be consistent - and at least 5 times a week is necessary to see good results.

Anything you can add to that is a bonus.

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From Fat To Fabulous: The Smart Girl's Guide To Raw Food Diet Weight Loss

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