1Eat Smart.
This is the first port of call when looking to reduce body fat. You have to create a caloric deficit while eating enough protein, carbohydrates and essential fats to support your current muscle mass while reducing body fat.
There are a lot of diet's that do this and others that don't but making sure you consume enough protein (chicken, fish, lean steak and dairy products), plenty of healthy fats (such as olive oil, avocado and butter) as well as a sensible range of carbohydrates (predominantly vegetables) is a good start.
Don't just cut fat as it can have a negative effect on your metabolism and similarly if you are very active don't just drop carbohydrates. Sensible balances of both of these are important for success.
2Lift weights- take care of your metabolism.
Lifting weights isn't just for body builders. It helps you maintain you maintain muscle. When you diet you are likely to lose muscle This means that you may lose weight but when you diet not all of it is body fat.
Is that a good thing? Well no, less muscle equals a slower metabolism so resistance training should be the priority in order to maintain a healthy physique. Ideally resistance train 3 times a week.
3Interval training- get the most bang for your buck.
If you have your nutrition right then it's time to add some calorie burning in to the mix. The most time efficient way of doing this is through interval training. You can do this through running, cycling or rowing. The key is to work with high intensity for anything up to a minute followed by a recovery period before you go again.
My personal favourite choice for our fat loss clients is sprinting up a nice steep hill before walking back down. This type of training is quite hard and we may perform it two to four times a week.
4Cardio- go against convention.
Typically aerobic exercise is most new exercises first port of call (in January you can count the extra joggers in their hundreds). This is a mistake.
Why? Aerobic exercise if performed excessively can cause a decrease in lean muscle.
The good thing is that in combination with resistance training aerobic exercise is more effective at reducing fat so lift weights in combination with your cardio ideally two to four times a week.
5Sleep more than seven hours a night.
Starving yourself in to weight loss is not effective if your lifestyle is not geared to support your results.
Sleep deprivation has been linked to weight gain, the disruption of hormones that moderate hunger as well as overeating.
If ever you needed a reason to get enough shut eye those three points are pretty good motivators.
6Concentrate on the process, not the result.
When losing weight a lot of people look for a magic food or treatment. There are none.
What does work though are small process driven goals. You are more likely to be successful if you focus upon one goal at a time. That may be eat vegetables at every meal, make all my gym sessions this week or eat breakfast every day.
Sure the big goal is important but changing everything at once is a sure fire way of not being successful. You are looking to create habits over a period as this is how you maintain a lean physique over time.
7Plan everything.
People who are organized at work often have chaotic lifestyles.
We get people to organise themselves like they do their work or leisure time. Book your gym sessions in, online shop to make sure your food bill stays in check and that nothing extra creeps in to your basket, make healthy nutrition and exercise a priority booking and you will see results.