Virtually everyone seams to have swallowed the idea that severe calorie cutting accompanied by long running or aerobics sessions are the way to go, when in fact the virtual opposite of these are the fastest and most effective for most people.
As a Trainer it frustrates me and so I am going to spill the beans as to how you can go about getting slim, fit and energized faster and with way less deprivation or "willpower".
Here are the 3 Strategies, any of which will work to improve your results, but when combined they are a sure fire winner! Firstly, forget calorie counting and extreme restrictions on how much you eat.
Cutting your food intake drastically is a complete disaster for most people in the long run.
Most quick weight loss achieved through extreme food restriction is a result of fluid loss and an empty digestive system, rather than true fat burning progress.
Instead concentrate on eating five or six mini meals every day, starting with breakfast, then mid morning, then lunch, then mid afternoon then an evening meal.
Drink a glass of water (assists in opening pathways in your body to burn fat) before every meal and restrict caffeine (coffee, tea and most canned beverages) intake to a couple of drinks per day.
Rather than concentrating on what not to eat, you will focus on eating and enjoying the great natural flavors of raw vegetables, fruit, especially berries, whole grains, whole-meal pasta and brown rice.
When eating meat, make sure it is good quality, chicken, turkey, steak and of course all kinds of fish.
the idea is to stoke up your metabolic rate, by eating good quality natural unprocessed foods in small but satisfying quantities and at regular intervals.
Feed your body as you would feed a fire that you wanted to burn at a high temperature.
That is, feed it often but with small quantities of high quality fuels.
Second strategy is don't train long, train smart.
For the sake of your hearts fitness and for fat loss, don't pound the treadmill or do 90 minute aerobics sessions.
These activities can be beneficial but they are also time consuming.
Instead exercise for only 20 minutes at a time every other day and use the interval strategy.
This involves in simple terms, walk a minute, run a minute for a beginner, through to run a minute, sprint a minute for an advanced athlete.
This type of training is proven to increase your fat loss over the following 24 hour period (despite carbs being the prime source of fuel during the higher intensity periods).
This formula can be used in any activity, medium to hard, medium to hard and the effect on improving your heart and lung performance plus the increases in metabolic rate go a long way to energizing you and turning you into a fat burning machine! Lastly, try replacing high repetition classic 'toning' activities of 10-50 reps which can often lead to muscle size increases in many women and men.
This is not the result a great many people are after and yet high reps are touted as 'toning'! Instead go for low repetition strength work with short rest intervals which will harden up and tone your body but without accompanying bulk.
If you don't believe me look at the density and tone of a light weight Olympic Weightlifter who will be able to chuck his own body-weight over his head and yet stay in his weight class.
Then compare this to a bodybuilder using super-setting and drop sets which may run into hundreds of repetitions total and yet he or she will end up as big as a house! Is that the 'toning effect' you are after ladies? To wrap up, losing fat fast can be simple, enjoyable and most importantly it shouldn't take hours of your time every day.
Keep your food simple and as natural and frequent as possible with small portion sizes.
Try short bursts of intense exercise regularly and work for strength at a fast pace.
And most importantly, have fun!