HOW TO LOOSE FAT AND NOT MUSCLE

First of all, let’s be clear that weight loss does not necessarily mean fat loss. 70% of your body mass is water. So one way to loose fat rapidly would be by zeroing your water intake However, this is extremely dangerous and should not be even attempted. So the goal should be to loose body fat and not body weight.

Now, loosing fat in itself is a cycle that involves discipline on the part of subject. It is simply not related to starving yourself but actually being aware what to eat and when to eat. The major principle involved in fat loss is ‘CALORIE BALANCE’ i.e (calorie intake – calorie burnt). To loose fat one has to go into negative calorie balance over a period of time.

Some techniques to achieve that are presented below:

FREQUENT MEALS:
The amount of calories burnt by one’s body depends on the metabolism system of the individual. High metabolism rate means more calories being consumed. To keep the metabolism of your body high, you have to eat frequent meals. Frequent meals imply eating, say every 3 hours. You don’t have to necessarily stuff yourself each time, but small nutritious meals will go a long way in maintaining an uninterrupted supply of protein to maintain your hard earned muscle.

Rather than eating three large meals, 6-8 evenly spaced small meals can be utilized better by your body. This keeps your body always in working mode in the sense that you are always digesting food (digestion of food also burns calories). Also, body will be in a good balanced state and so it won’t produce the chemical enzymes to convert food into fat storage. When you eat infrequent meals, the body goes into a panic mode and starts storing fats in order to withstand long time without food.

It’s kind of maintaining a trust relationship with your body. If it is assured that it will continue to receive energy through food every now and then, no storage results.

NEVER EVER STARVE:

Going into a negative calorie balance does not mean that you start to starve. Our body has this great adaptation mechanism which adjusts to food intake and thereby adjusts the metabolism rate. So if the body gets the impression that it is being starved, it starts conserving food in form of fat by slowing down the metabolism rate. Remember fats are the last source from which body derives energy in case you starve. It will first feed onto the muscle, then move on to fats. Reducing the calorie levels by 10-15% is generally considered safe, i.e if your burn approx 3000 calories per day then intake of 2600-2700 calories is good to maintain a negative calorie balance and hence loose fat.

You might have noticed people who go on strict diets (very little food), usually show good results in the first week, but then gradually the results taper off. Even in the first week, they have lost mostly muscle and not fat.

Also, starving yourself over a considerable point of time is not easy. At one point, one would get totally hopeless on fat loss and might start to eat normally again. But now his body has adapted to very less calories. So even 2000 calories would be excess for it and it will deposit it as fat under your skin. This is the most common mistake that people do and complain that their diet is not working.

CHEAT DAYS:

As stated earlier, human body has this amazing adapting mechanism. So if you keep your calorie balance negative always, the results will slow down and your body will simply adapt to the situation and will stop you from loosing weight and fat.
So, in order to carry on with the fat loss, we must learn to CHEAT. “Honest people don’t always end up on the winning side, but you will always find Smart people on that shore.”

Let’s learn to cheat then.. Cheat in the right sense.

After three or four days of continuous negative calories, your body might think of shifting gear and it will try to adapt to the situation, by slowing down the metabolism. But if you place a high calorie meal at this point, you will no longer be negative calorie balance. Instead you will be in a positive calorie balance. So your body won’t get adapted to the situation and will continue to support you in loosing fat. So that also gives you the reason to pamper your taste buds. Have that pizza, grab that finger licking pastry but limit it to once a week

For endomorphic people( who are obese by nature) , spacing of cheat meals by 6-7 days is suggested.

If you are obese by nature then space the cheat meals 5-6 days apart.

WHAT TO EAT n WHEN TO EAT:

As everyone knows, carbohydrates are the basic source of energy and excess of carbs is converted into fat. Now to derive energy from carbs, body needs to be set into motion. So try consuming more carbohydrates during your breakfast, before your workouts and even after your workouts. But it should be lesser during the night.

If we consume carbs and go to sleep, then the energy consumed could not be used up by the body. So in turn the body will try to convert it into fats. So we must consume more carbs before high physical activity hours of the day and try to keep it very low during the low activity hours of the day and in night.

Good Carbs and Bad Carbs:

Good Carbohydrates: Try to consume fibrous and starchy carbohydrates.

Bad Carbohydrates: Try to stay away from sugars, as they can increase your insulin levels and can spoil your diet.

But consuming sugar carbohydrates immediately after training can help you replenish the lost glycogen stores in your muscle.

DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

Drinking water has enormous good effects on human body. It not only gives u filled feeling (so you don’t crave for food in between meals) but also flushes out your system.

These are the basic steps, if followed religiously along with a active workout regime, might help you a long way in achieving that dream physique of yours.

GO FOR IT!!!!!

UNDERSTANDING BODY TYPES: First Step to a Bigger Goal

Everyone has different fitness goals. Some might want to lose fat, others may be too skinny and want to gain, yet there may be different class which wants that perfect chiseled body. However attaining your dream shape is a bigger picture. It requires hard work and perseverance to achieve that. We start today with the three different basic body types. Each body type is different from other, and requires different kind of nutrition/activity program to achieve results.

The three basic body types are:

1. Ectomorphs
2. Mesomorphs
3. Ectomorphs.

Ectomorphs are the lean, skinny types. They are usually very thin, with fast metabolisms and extremely low body fat.

Mesomorphs are the "genetically gifted." They are lean and muscular. Mesomorphs have the ideal body type as they have the tendency to lose fat and gain muscle easily

Endomorphs are the "fat retainers". Endomorphs usually have high body fat and often face great difficulty in losing it.

Although there are three basic categories, pure body types are very rare. Usually there is a mix of two or even all three types.

Let’s look into some more details:

THE ECTOMORPH

The ectomorph tends to be tall and skinny with small joints and a small waist. Ectomorphs are naturally lean and usually never have trouble with excess body fat during their entire lives. Many ectomorphs can maintain extremely low body fat while doing no cardiovascular exercise whatsoever. Ectomorphs have overly efficient metabolisms. However they usually have a hard time while trying to gain muscle or put on weight.

Ectomorphs usually do not experience much weight fluctuations, even if they do it’s usually in the direction of losing weight. An increase in activity is usually accompanied by rapid lose in weight.

Ectomorphs will usually lose most of the muscle they gained if they quit training or if they allow their calories to drop too low for too long. Without proper ectomorph training and nutrition, they will eventually slide back towards the level of leanness where their body is most comfortable. It takes lifelong commitment for an ectomorph to keep the muscle and body weight up.

Strategy for ectomorphs:

1. Less Activity

Ectomorphs are hyperactive people with fast metabolisms. So the first and most obvious solution is less activity to gain weight. Ectomorphs must slow down and relax more.

2. Avoid overtraining

The ectomorph must get in and out of the gym quickly and allow plenty of recuperation between workouts. Keep cardio vascular exercise to a minimum

As such, cardio should be kept to a minimum and done mainly for health reasons. 15-30 minutes a day, three days a week is usually sufficient.

Keep the calories high and never, ever, ever miss a meal. Diet moderately high in complex carbohydrates is recommended for ectomorphs.

Carbohydrate restriction is an effective fat loss strategy, but since ectomorphs burn up nearly everything they consume, there’s usually no reason to restrict carbohydrates. Fifty or even fifty-five percent of total daily calories should come from carbohydrates in the ectomorph diet with 30% from lean proteins and 15-20% from fats.

Pay attention to food quality. Don’t think that being an ectomorph enables you to get away with anything.

THE MESOMORPH

Mesomorphs are the typical natural-born athletes and bodybuilders. Most of them were lean and muscular before they even started working out.

A bodybuilder like Arnold Schwarzenegger is almost pure mesomorph with low body fat and massive muscles.

Because mesomorphs are so genetically gifted, they often have the tendency to cheat and skip workouts because they can get away with it and still look good. But just imagine what they would look like if they applied themselves 100%. If you recognize that you are genetically gifted in any sense, then make the most of your gifts - train and eat to the best of your ability and you could become one of the best in the world in bodybuilding, fitness

or athletics. Even if you’re not a competitor, why shouldn’t you actualize your full potential and be the best you can possibly be?

Pay attention to food quality

Like the ectomorph, those with mesomorph tendencies quickly discover that they can also “get away with” eating certain foods without ill effects on body composition, so they often do exactly that – eat anything and everything.

THE ENDOMORPH

Most people who are working hard but still struggling to lose body fat are endomorphs. An endomorph is someone with a slow metabolism who is genetically prone to store fat easily. Endomorphs sometimes have varying degrees of carbohydrate sensitivity and insulin resistance, so high carbohydrate diets are usually not effective for body fat control.

Processed and refined carbohydrates that contain white sugar and white flour are especially detrimental and tend to convert to body fat more rapidly in endomorphs. Low to moderate carbohydrate diets with higher protein usually work best for endomorphs.

Endomorphs generally have a very difficult time losing fat with diet alone. Even a nearly perfect diet sometimes won’t work by itself because the endomorph needs the boost in metabolism that exercise provides.

A larger quantity of cardio is almost always necessary for the endomorph to lose body fat.

Strategy for endomorphs:

1. High protein, medium to low carbs

High protein, low to moderate carb diets work best for the endomorph. Muscles are like burning furnaces which burns away fat and proteins are basic building blocks of muscles.

So having control over what they eat is most important for endomorphs as compared to other two body types.

2. Exercise is an absolute MUST

Endomorphs generally have a very difficult time losing fat with diet alone. Even a closeto-perfect diet often doesn’t work by itself because the endomorph needs the boost in metabolism that comes from exercise.

3. Large amounts of cardio

Cardio exercises are most important for endomorphs. Having your heart beat raised over a considerable amount of time, increases blood circulation and thereby boosts metabolism. Doing cardio 4-5 times a week (approx 30mins per session) is generally shown to be effective.

4. Weight Training

While cardio burns more calories for the time your heartbeat is raised, weight training helps in maintaining a higher calorie burning ratio throughout the day.

Weight training exercises that utilize large muscle groups like the back and legs are extremely effective for stimulating the metabolism and for stimulating the hormones that increase fat burning.

If you are an endomorph, you must fight the urge within you to relax and train with high intensity. You have to push yourself constantly. Not only must you train almost every day, you must push yourself to train harder every day and repeatedly beat your own personal best.

HOW TO DETERMINE YOUR BODY TYPE

The way you respond to training and nutrition is a good indicator of your body type. If you grow muscle like crazy and the fat melts off with great ease, you have genetic gifts; you have the mesomorph’s muscle-building qualities and the ectomorph’s fat-burning qualities.

How quickly you respond to de-training is also a good indicator of your true body type. What happens when you stop training? Do you hold your muscle gains? Does the body fat stay off? If so, you are genetically gifted. If body fat starts accumulating the second you stop training, you have a higher endomorph component.

Try to progressively increase your training duration and frequency gradually as stamina starts to build up. Human body has this great mechanism of adjusting and slowing down your metabolism rate. So it is necessary to surprise your body by changing the intensity and type of your training program.