Let me set your mindset straight with these 4 helpful facts that will aid you in your quest of shaking off those excessive fats from your body, and keep them off – forever!
Fact 1: It Is Body Fat That You Want To Lose
When we talk about losing weight, we actually don’t really care about losing weight, do we? Ask yourself, who would you want to be?
Angela
Weight – 90 lbs. Looks thin and lethargic.
or
Betty
Weight – 130 lbs. Looks healthy, lean and energetic.
I bet with my head on the guillotine that you’d want to be Betty! I’m sure you wouldn’t mind to be slightly “overweight” if your body “looks” the way you want it to be.
Losing weight is extremely simple. I can tell you a sure way of losing weight right away – stop drinking water! Stop drinking water for 3 days straight and you would be at least 8 – 10kg “lighter”. But you will still look the same. Well, perhaps just a lot dehydrated than usual.
What’s really difficult is to lose body fat.
Articles that you would find here revolve around a balance of 3 elements that are integral in achieving permanent fat loss. These three elements are Diet, Cardio Exercise, and Resistance Training.
Fact 2: Diet
When I mention diet, I don’t mean restricting food intake. I don’t mean eating only
- low calorie foods (we need calories to live healthily),
- low carb foods (a big no-no!), or even
- low fat foods (some ‘bad’ fats are actually good for fat loss).
What I really mean is choosing the right food to eat. I would say 50% of a successful weight loss campaign comes from your menu selection. Some foods are able to make you burn your body fat faster than most other foods, while some slow your fat burning process down.
Fact 3: Cardio Workout
Cardio is the “active” component to fat burning. The reason I call it “active” is because cardio workouts generally burn fats only when you are actively doing it. Diet and resistance training, on the other hand, are “passive” components. Once you get them right, they will burn fat for you even when you are watching TV!
Cardio is a must if you are in the need to lose weight within a short period of time. A few good cardio workouts are swimming, jogging and dancing. Doing it right could burn a big chunk of fat off your body every session. Exactly how much of fat went off varies depending on factors such as:
- Your weight (muscle mass),
- The type of cardio workout that you do,
- The intensity of the workout, and
- How long the workout lasts.
For instance, a person weighing 155 lbs would burn 372 calories after doing a 30 minute session of breaststroke swimming at mild intensity. Any changes in any of the four elements will affect the number of calories burnt.
Fact 4: Resistance Training
Let me aware you of one fact – your body burns fat even when you are resting. The more muscle mass you have in your body, the more fat it burns for you passively.
One thing bad about cardio is that it burns not only body fat, but also muscle mass if it is done extensively. Therefore, to maintain muscle mass in your body after an extensive cardio workout, resistance training is a must.
To truly experience weight loss and to keep it off permanently, you must first realize that your enemy is not body weight, but is body fat. Also, the weight loss program that you intend to follow must consist of a healthy diet routine, cardio exercises and resistance training.
With that in mind, you are ready for the details…