Struggling to shift the flab? Make some simple changes to your lifestyle and you’ll burn fat in no time, says Charles Poliquin
Unless
you burn fat while building mass, your hard-earned muscles will be
hidden. The quickest way to fail on your fat-fighting mission is through
a lack of discipline. But even if you are properly motivated, you need
to ensure you aren’t making silly mistakes that will stall your
progress.
I’ve seen many clients make critical but common errors – and
achieve amazing results when they corrected them. This is my definitive
list of what you can do to avoid common pitfalls that prevent you
achieving a lean, hard body. It assumes that you aren’t doing any of the
things that obviously impede weight loss and cause poor health, such as
drinking large amounts of alcohol or not exercising.
Banish stress
Minimising stress lowers your cortisol levels. It is well
established that chronically high cortisol results in fat gain,
particularly around the middle. No matter how much you exercise or how
healthy your diet, you’ll struggle to lose weight if your cortisol is
elevated.
Train with weights
Strength training is essential for weight loss because it burns
calories while improving insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake. It is
preferable to cardio training because it produces a more favourable
muscle-building response and burns more fat. For the best results,
follow a periodised strength training programme that changes regularly –
so you are not doing the same thing for longer than two months – and
include anaerobic sprints.
Don’t avoid fat
Avoiding fat to shift fat from your body may seem logical, but when you appreciate the role of fat in
the body you’ll realise it isn’t. You need a decent amount of
‘good’ fat in your diet because all the cells in your body are made
up of two layers of fats, or lipids, which are composed of good fats or
bad fats depending on the type that’s predominant in your diet. If the
cell lipid layers are made up of healthy fats, it will make them more
sensitive to insulin and allow the receptors to bind more easily, which
is necessary for good metabolism and energy production. Of course,
removing trans fats from your diet is essential because they will make
you fat and then they will kill you.
Balance your fat intake
To get a balanced intake you ideally want a nearly equal ratio of
omega 3 to omega 6 fats. Most people get way too many omega 6 fats
because they are abundantly found in the most commonly used vegetable
oils. Omega 3 fatty acids are those that come from fish oil (usually
known as DHA, EPA and ALA) but they also are found in grass-fed beef and
wild meats. So for better insulin health and body composition I suggest
taking a high-dose omega 3 supplement and eating wild meat and fish.
Take a probiotic
Probiotics are tiny bacteria that live naturally in the
gastrointestinal tract and are commonly found in dairy products such as
yoghurt. It’s difficult to lose weight if you don’t have a healthy gut.
Why? More than half the neurotransmitters that send messages from the
brain to cells and hormone receptors throughout the body are made in the
gastrointestinal lining. If your gut is not healthy, it negatively
affects the production of the neurotransmitters, leading to poor
cognitive function, low mood and lack of motivation to exercise. Gut
health is also essential because it improves digestion. Your metabolism
will be supported so that nutrients are broken down, absorbed and used
by the body effectively.
Top up your nutrients
Another trick for supporting digestion and fat loss is to make sure
you have adequate stomach acid to break down food. Take a hydrochloric
acid (HCl) supplement to improve acid levels in the stomach and to allow
your body to completely break down food. The increased acid levels in
the stomach will improve the absorption of protein, calcium, vitamin B,
magnesium, zinc, iron and other basic nutrients.
Start your day with protein
Skipping meals will set you up to fail to lose weight, and eating
breakfast is one of the simplest, healthiest things you can do to feel
better and have more energy – but it’s vital that it includes protein.
Cereal is bad for breakfast because it’s typically packed with sugar and
additives. Setting the neurotransmitters up for the day is the reason a
high-quality protein breakfast is essential. The macronutrient content
of the food you eat for breakfast will prime the chemicals that send
messages from the brain to all your muscles and tissues throughout the
whole day.
How to lose belly fat fast ?