12 Powerful Ways to Shed Body Fat This Year.

01 Jan 12 Powerful Ways to Shed Body Fat This Year.

Posted at 05:55h in Fat Loss, Nutrition by Scott 0 Comments

The new year is here!

Are you finally ready to get rid of that unwanted body fat?

Are you ready to get to your “ideal” body weight, whatever that is for you?

Are you ready to shed the belly fat and get in the most amazing shape of your life this year? I hope so.

And, finally, you a have strong reason why, right?

Remember, you must have a powerful reason why you must shed the fat, drop the weight, get stronger, or whatever your goal may be.

A powerful reason why gives you the power and the drive to succeed. A strong reason why may be the biggest asset you have in your battle against body fat, but that’s entirely different topic (I’ll save that for later).

Also, it’s important to realize the obvious. While you can’t ‘spot reduce’ you can shed body fat quickly with these 12 powerful solutions to getting the body you want and living in better health.

Here they are:

Eliminate all the wrong carbs. The wrong carbs are the processed, sugary type carbs. Anything in a box or package probably falls into that category. Also, avoid white carbs, like white rice, white bread, white pastas, and potatoes. Why? Typically, the white carbs rate quite high on the glycemic index, which means they cause your blood sugar to soar when you ingest them. Also, of major concern is the fact that many white carbs contain chlorine dioxide (used for bleaching) and end up forming a by product called alloxan, which is used in lab research to induce diabetes. Do you need anymore reasons to avoid white carbs?
Add more full body resistance exercises to your training program. Full body exercises are the way to go for many reasons. Full body exercises stimulate the most growth hormone, testosterone, and other powerful hormones to help you burn body fat effectively. This means your metabolism will be optimized to burn more calories and improve your body composition over the long haul, that is to increase lean muscle mass while shedding unwanted body fat. Full body exercises are the deal. Forget the isolation exercises and go pro with exercise fundamentals like squats, deadlifts, full body military presses, kettlebell swings, push ups, pull ups, and the like.
Cut the sugar. Should I really explain this one? Yes, I think I should, considering how many people I see still consuming massive amounts of sugar, even though everyone pretty much knows the adverse effects of sugar consumption, not to mention the fact that excess sugar is always converted to fat. A simple way to shed the fat is simply cutting out or minimizing sugar intake. Sugar equals belly fat and increased chances for chronic disease. Optimize your health, shed the fat, and lose the sugar.
Add interval training to your regimen. Interval training has been proven to be highly effective in fat burning. A great example of an interval program would be with the kettlebell swing, performing 20 seconds of work to 10 seconds of rest for 4 minutes (also known as a Tabata type program). Intervals (periods of work followed by short periods of rest) shed fat fast. If you aren’t doing intervals in some manner and your goal is fat loss, it’s time to implement interval training and forget the long duration cardio, unless, of course, you like spending an hour on the treadmill or some other type of boring exercise machine (did I say that?). Just something to consider. And, don’t forget, that long duration cardio session is burning calories ONLY during the session, as compared to resistance exercise intervals, which burn calories for many hours after the training.
Cut the processed foods. Not only will you improve your body composition significantly by cutting the packaged, processed foods out, you’ll be taking a massive advance in improving your health. Eat more whole foods (lean meats, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other natural foods) and minimize the processed foods. Then watch the fat melt off your body in the process. A simple rule to follow at the grocery store is to shop on the periphery (where the whole foods are) and avoid or minimize shopping in the isles (where the processed foods are). Simple enough.
Add sprint training to your workouts, once or twice a week. If you can sprint, sprint. If you can’t run, then you can do sprint type intervals, on a stationary bike. After a proper warm up, and if you can sprint, go all out for short bursts then walk back to your starting point and begin again for 5-8 rounds of all out sprints. This is amazing for shedding fat and I get elevated fat burning effects every time I incorporate some type of sprint program into my training. Sprinting for fat loss is a real “stealth method” and one you should definitely do, if you can.
Drink more water. Water is the most important thing you need to consume in abundance. Water is essential for health and even in preventing disease. I recently heard an amazing stat. The stat was that a high percentage of the American population is chronically dehydrated. Not just dehydrated, but chronically dehydrated! That’s incredible. Water can help to satiate your appetite, improve your metabolism, and keeps you hydrated, which makes you feel more energetic and vibrant. Water is what your body needs to function at an optimal level. How much water should you drink? Half your body weight in ounces, so if you weigh 200 pounds, drink 100 ounces of water per day.
Add more quality protein to your diet. Lean, quality protein is the building block of life. Most people don’t get the protein their body needs (or atleast they don’t get the right quality protein). How much protein do you need? That really depends on what your goals are and how you are currently training. Another simple rule is this, eat lean protein with every meal. Protein has the most thermic effect of any of the macronutrients (protein, carbs, or fats). This means, you body needs more energy to burn protein that it does fats or carbs. This means your metabolism is elevated after eating protein.
Reduce your stress level. Stress wreaks havoc on your hormones, specifically the hormones cortisol and adrenaline. Cortisol is also referred to as the “belly fat’ hormone. These hormones cause impaired ability to burn fat and contribute to many health problems that can lead to chronic diseases. Stress management is critical for achieving high levels of health and getting the body you want. Take time to unwind, find a way to ‘de-stress,’ and understand the consequences of having consistent stress levels and how this can effect your body fat levels. Easier said than done? Not really, if you think about it. It’s all about awareness isn’t it?
Eat more vegetables. Want another simple rule? Eat vegetables with every meal. Just add that to the lean protein. Vegetables are nutrition dense, not calorie dense. Does this make sense? I don’t think I need to further explain this one.
Get more sleep. Strive for 7-8 hours of quality sleep per night. Sleep is critical for your hormones, for optimal rest and recovery, and for peak health. More information is being discovered about the importance of getting adequate sleep, despite many people thinking that they can “get by” on just a few hours per night. Sleep is very important in your training and fitness plan (and your health). If your not getting 7-8 hours, then get to bed earlier, do what you have to do. Don’t fool yourself and think you can get by on less. Sleep more to shed more (by letting your metabolism and hormones do their best work while you’re sleeping).
Learn how to perform the kettlebell swing. One last way to literally obliterate body fat is to learn how to perform a kettlebell swing. This is nothing new coming from me, but it is incredibly powerful and I’d be doing an injustice if I didn’t mention swinging away the fat with a kettlebell. Many people (myself included) have discovered the power of a properly executed kettlebell swing for improving body power and scorching body fat. Why is this exercise so effective? It’s a full body exercise that has a tremendous cardiovascular conditioning component. It may be the most complete exercise there is and one of the added benefits is the obliteration of body fat. Discover it for yourself and get back to me!