How to Deplete Body Fat
Losing weight not only makes you look and feel better, it also greatly improves your health and your self-confidence. Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for good health, as people who are obese or overweight have a higher risk of developing serious medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer. Losing weight by depleting body-fat reserves rather than through muscle loss can be achieved through simple diet and lifestyle changes.
Plan your meals in advance, and change the way you eat. Keep a food diary for two weeks, and look closely at the foods you ate. Plan your next two weeks worth of meals, making healthier choices, such as cutting calories, lowering carbohydrates and adding more fruit and vegetables.
Exercise at least three times per week. Begin a routine that incorporates both cardiovascular exercise and weight training. Weight training, in particular, builds muscle and increases the amount of calories your body burns while at rest for up to 39 hours post-workout. Glycogen, the storage of glucose in the body for energy, must be used before the body will begin to burn fat. There is evidence, according to fitness website Built Lean, that doing cardio in the morning, before breakfast, helps burn more fat because during the night your body has depleted its glycogen stores, so every minute spent on cardio burns fat, not glycogen.
Vary your caloric intake by 200 to 300 calories. Your body has a built-in mechanism to prevent starvation. When you lower your caloric intake and keep it steadily low, your body will store fat to prevent the loss of too much weight. This can cause your weight loss to stall, or plateau. Varying your caloric intake every few days will prevent your body from going into starvation mode and help you to continue to deplete fat. For example, alternating between 1,200 and 1,500 calories every three days will allow you to continue to burn fat on the 1,200 calorie days, because you will be back to 1,500 before the starvation mechanism kicks in.
- Working out with a friend can provide the motivation you need to stick with it.
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