Losing fat and gaining muscle

Fitness

Friday, 12 October 2012

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Losing fat and gaining muscle has nutritional, physical and psychological aspects. The following 15 strategies can help you reach your goals:

Increasing your protein intake helps protect muscles when calories are low and helps release stored energy.
Eating smaller meals more often provides a continuous flow of nutrients when calories are low. Foods high in nutrient volume but low in calories, such as spinach, broccoli and cabbage help you stay lean while feeling full. Beaten egg white expands for the same effect.
Eat more green leafy vegetables and fresh fruits to keep your body functioning and maintain your acid balance. Starches such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, etc. Should be kept for post workout meals.

Eliminate all junk and processed food from your house and your diet.
Plan your meals on a weekly basis and stay with it.
However, don’t skip your pre/post workout health shakes. These help you recover faster and build muscle while dieting.
Although unconnected to fat loss, taking a multivitamin and/or whole food extracts can help prevent dietary deficiencies.
Although caffeine can help release stored body fat while also providing an energy boost, a little (200mg) goes a long way. Alternatively, green tea is calorie free and contains an antioxidant/caffeine combination that improves weight loss.
Sprinting is another way to burn calories and lose fat outside the gym while other physical activities focus on integrating exercise into your daily routines, such as increasing the amount of walking you do to and from work.
In the gym try reducing your rest time between weight lifting sets to keep your heart rate up and burn more calories.
Lifting weights helps keep muscle mass that can otherwise be lost on low calorie diets. Compound movements will enable heavier lifts.
However, there are limits to what your body can do on a low carbohydrate diet. Don’t over-train. If your fat loss is stagnant, try more low intensity cardio work on stationary bikes.
Set your goals, write them down and follow through.
A mentor can help save a lot of repetition and frustration.
Visualizing yourself as you would like to be will help make it a reality, as will adding some isometric contractions – posing.