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Six Steps to Weight Loss Success
By Gerald Gore
What does it take to lose weight?
When it comes to losing weight there is so much conflicting information out
there that a lot of people just are not sure where to begin. There is an old
saying that states "if you want learn how to get rich then hang out with rich
people" Well, that old saying can also be applied if you want to lose weight.
The bottom line is, if you want to lose weight follow the advice of those that
have successfully done so. When it comes to reducing body fat, Bodybuilders are
the Kings and Queens to losing weight. Although many of their practices are too
extreme for most people, there are some great secrets that should be used by
everyone. Before we begin we should first cover a few basic rules.
Rule number 1, there is no such thing as a magic pill! Yeah, I know that stinks
but the facts are the facts. Although there are diet supplements and diet
pills/ patches that will assist with weight loss they are not the magic
solution. You will still need to add in a good diet and exercise program, which
leads us into Rule Number 2.
Rule number 2, Proper diet and exercise is key. If you want to lose weight for
the long term then you will need to have a good exercise and diet program. We
will cover this more in detail later.
Rule number 3 encompasses both rules 1 and 2. For most people they just need to
take the steps to safely increase their metabolism. Most people have slowed
their metabolism down so much that they seem to not be able to lose weight even
if they eat only once or twice a day.
Steps to increase your metabolism and burn unwanted body fat
Step 1: Drink a gallon water everyday
Most of us are already aware that our bodies are mostly made up of water. So
much of it that approximately 65 percent of our bodies is water. The brain uses
it, the organs, the skin, bones and even the way nutrients and waste are passed
in and out of the cells. Drink too little water and you may be at risk for
headaches, muscle cramps, dizziness, constipation and other nasty symptoms.
However, if you drink an adequate amount of water you gain some great benefits
such as a clearer mind, more energy and even help your body metabolize body
fat.
As a general rule I try to start out at a gallon a day and move up from there.
Yes it is difficult at first but in a short amount of time your body will
adapt. I have also added an extra step to my water consumption by drinking it
ice cold. You not only get the benefit of metabolizing body fat by drinking a
gallon of water a day but you also get an extra benefit with cold water by
expending more calories trying to warm it up.
How to prepare – get an empty one-gallon plastic milk carton (or water jug) and
fill full of water and put it in the freezer the night before you need it. The
next morning a wall of ice will form inside the milk carton. Take a butter
knife and punch a hole through the top layer of ice. You now have an ice-cold
water jug that you can carry with you throughout your day.
Step 2: Eat six (6) small meals a day
I know this sounds all wrong but I am going to paint a little picture for you to
help you grasp this concept. Your body is a very adaptable machine that is
going to adjust itself to survive as efficiently as possible. If you only eat
one meal a day, large or small, your body will make adjustments according to
your current caloric intake. In other words, if you are only eating once a day
your body will want to store calories as fat so that it has an ample supply of
energy to live off of before the next feeding. The less you eat the less your
body is going to burn therefore slowing down your metabolism.
Now, that doesn’t mean you can eat six servings of fast food or junk throughout
the day and lose weight. You need to live on a well-balanced diet that is full
of protein, fruits and vegetables and good carbohydrates (yams, brown rice, oat
meal, etc…). Does this mean you have to give up junk food and sweets? Nope,
this leads us into our next step.
Step 3: Add a cheat meal to your diet
As stated earlier your body is an amazing machine. Not only is your body going
to do what it can to insure its survival, it will also try to maintain balance
by adapting to its environment. In other words, if you eat the same thing day
in and day out your body will eventually adapt to your current caloric intake
by adjusting your metabolism. For example, if you were eating 2000 calories a
day and dropped down to 1500 calories a day, your body will eventually adjust
your metabolism to efficiently run on 1500 calories a day.
The key is to trick your body and keep it guessing. One of the greatest, and
most fun I might add, tricks used by bodybuilders is to add a cheat meal to
their diet. For one meal a week you can go hog wild and eat whatever your heart
desires, whether it be pizza, ice-cream or a meal full of Snickers. Now I
understand there are those that would prefer to eat a cleaner diet so for them
I recommend that they just double their carbohydrate intake one to two full
days out of the week (this is what I actually did when preparing for
bodybuilding contest)
The real asset of the cheat meal is that it keeps you honest with your diet. If
your cheat meal is on Saturday and Wednesday your getting a really bad pizza
craving, you can simply convince yourself to stay on track by reminding
yourself that in three more days you can have whatever you want. Pushing your
cravings off to your cheat meal date becomes a little goal for you to achieve
while allowing you to maintain your sanity.
Step 4: Change diet later in day
As your day progresses you will want to shift your diet from the more complex
carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes and bread to more fibrous carbohydrates
such as broccoli and other vegetables. The fibrous carbohydrates take longer to
burn and you will not have to worry about spiking your insulin levels before
you go to bed. Once exception to this rule is if you are working out in the
evenings. In this case you will need to take an adequate amount of
carbohydrates for your workout.
*Note: A good diet program should be designed for each individual. I would
recommend consulting with a good nutritionist to be put on a diet program that
works for you.
Step 5: Cardio in the morning
A successful weight loss routine involves both diet and exercise. If you are
looking for long-term results, one does not go without the other. If you avoid
doing either one or the other, you may experience some short-term success
followed by long-term frustration. A great example of this is to watch people
who are always doing the yo-yo diets. They lose weight one week only to gain it
back plus some a few weeks later. Hey, we have all done this so keep in mind
that both exercise and diet is the key to long-term success.
One trick that I have found works is to do your cardio workouts in the morning.
Ideally I would walk on the treadmill or stair stepper at a moderate pace for
45 minutes in the morning (moderate pace meaning that I was breaking a good
sweat but could maintain a conversation if necessary (Too fast of a pace and
you will burn carbohydrates instead of fat). The benefits to this are that you
not only increase your metabolism for the day you also will feel better too.
Even though I appear to have been stressing the benefits of a good cardio
program, it would be irresponsible of me to not also point out the benefits of
weight training. Simply put, the more lean muscle mass you have the more
calories your body will burn. I highly recommend you consider adding a weight
resistant workout to your body fat reduction arsenal.
Step 6: Supplements
I would like to stress that diet supplements are a tool to help you reach your
goal. Supplements alone are not a magic pill that will give you instant
results. However, that being said, a good diet supplement added to a solid diet
and workout program will help accelerate your results.
Tying it all together
I have personally used these six weight-losing principles to help me reduce
unwanted body fat to win several bodybuilding contests. For example, I applied
these exact principles to reduce my body fat from 28 percent to less than five
percent in a six and a half month period. Although some of the diet practices
applied for a bodybuilding show may be extreme, these six principles can be
applied and adjusted for everyone looking to reduce body fat. In conclusion and
to recap, the six basic steps to weight loss success is to drink a gallon of
ice cold water a day, eat six small meals a day verses the traditional large
three, add a cheat meal to your diet program, adjust your carbohydrate intake
towards the end of the day, do cardio workouts in the morning and finally add
supplements as a tool to your diet and workout program.
Gerald Gore is the owner of the online fitness review site One4Fitness. For more
health and fitness related tips and reviews on workout equipment visit Gerald’s
site at http://www.one4fitness.com.
Link to this page
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| The Lean Body Promise : Burn Away Fat and Release the Leaner, Stronger Body Inside You |
| Lee Labrada |
| It does not matter how many diets and fitness programs you have tried without success, Lee Labrada, former Mr. Universe, makes you a promise: There is a lean, strong body inside of you, and you have the power to release it. He shows you how to shift your body from fat-storing to fat-burning mode. Without counting calories, get ready to enjoy the most user-friendly metabolism-boosting nutrition program ever. You will never have to guess about what to eat, and you will never go hungry again! |
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