How to Lose Weight, Burn Fat?

Things You’ll Need:

• A little motivation and discipline

1. Step 1

   The first step (and this may be obvious to some) is realizing that there is no easy way to lose weight and stay in shape. I hate to disappoint, but the sooner you come to this realization the sooner you’ll be on your way to a leaner, sexier, healthier you. Weight loss pills, low-carb diets, vegetable only diets, liquid only diets are all temporary fixes. They may help you lose weight fast, but they never work in the long run. Think about it, if there was really a pill you could take that could make you lose weight, everyone in the world would know about it and we’d all eat whatever we want and keep our weight down by simply taking this pill – I know I would if that were true!

2. Step 2

   Get rid of the junk. Once again, I hate to overstate the obvious, but the only way you’re going to lose weight and keep the weight off is to remove all of the cookies, toaster strudels, potato chips, etc., from your home. No, you don’t even need one package of cookies in the house for special occasions – get rid of all of it.

   Most people just don’t realize that if you eat toaster strudels for breakfast, you’ve already consumed 50% of the daily recommended fat intake for the day. Take your very favorite dessert and find a low calorie (usually by way of smaller portion) version. My absolute favorite is resee cups. I used to eat two resee cups everyday after dinner for dessert. I bought a bag of the mini resee cups so now I eat two mini resee cups instead of two regular size resee cups. If you’re favorite is chocolate chip cookies, buy a box of the individually wrapped 100 calorie packs of cookies. Yes, it’s technically a rip-off since you’re actually paying more for less but would you rather pay $2.50 for a bag of cookies and be over weight or $4.50 for a bag of cookies and be healthy?

3. Step 3

   Stop eating out. There are very few choices on a very small select group of restaurant menus that are less than 1500 calories and considering that the daily recommended caloric intake is between 2000-3000 calories for most men and women, it’s easy to see how one meal can claim 80% of your daily allowance. And if you have dessert, you can add another 1000 calories to that total. The reason I say STOP eating out instead of simply saying “eat the healthier option” is because there really is no healthier option. Most consumers have no idea how rich in calories and fats restaurant food really is.

   There is a reason why broccoli and carrots taste better at a restaurant than they do at home, because they are cooked in a pan full of butter. You might as well just sprinkle some carrots on a plate of butter and eat from that when you order vegetables at a restaurant. Sure there are a few somewhat reasonable options out there but they are few and far between and most of the things you think are healthy simply are not, which leads to step 4.

4. Step 4

   Educate yourself. I firmly believe that the majority of people that are over weight just do not realize how much fat is in the stuff they are eating. You need to do your homework, there are plenty of sites available on the web that offer the nutritional information for restaurants in your area. Once you see how many grams of fat there is in that barbeque bacon burger that you like to have at your favorite restaurant every Friday night after work, you’ll start to realize how much you’ve been over eating.

   You can’t just assume anything… for instance, most people would assume that the Tuna sandwich at Subway would be one of the healthier options on the menu when in fact it is one of the worst (because of the amount of mayo). Do you need to memorize the nutritional info of every food item at the grocery store? Absolutely not, but the more you learn the more of an advantage you’ll have when it comes to making the right choices.

   There are some very easy ways to cut out unnecessary fat and calories. You can find a turkey version for just about any beef product. Turkey burgers, turkey dogs (hot dogs), and you can even find turkey sausage to replace those pork sausage patties you love so much. I’m not saying you can never eat beef, but most americans consume way more beef than we actually need. A hamburger can easily contain 30 grams of fat whereas a turkey burger will have less than 5 grams. I’ve also found that while the taste can very slightly more or slightly less from product to product, the taste really isn’t all that different and after a while, you won’t even realize that it’s turkey and not beef that you’re eating.

   There are numerous things you can do to cut back on the fat and calories, you just have do some research. After a while you’ll know the nutritional content of most foods or at least have a more accurate idea. There is no need to count your calories or carry around a log book. Just read the labels of what you’re eating and compare them when you’re grocery shopping.

5. Step 5

   The last piece to the puzzle – you all knew it was coming. Exercise! The only way to lose weight is to consume a smaller amount of calories than your body uses in a day and if you think you can just not eat to accomplish this, you’re actually making it harder for yourself to lose weight. Your body requires a certain amount of calories per day to stay healthy and when you’re body doesn’t get those calories it goes into starvation mode and will actually start to store fat and burn muscle.

   Since muscle burns more calories than fat at rest, you can see how this kind of dieting can have a two fold negative effect. The way to ensure that your body is getting the vitamins and minerals that it needs while also creating a caloric deficit is to, you guessed it, exercise! The more you exercise, the more you can eat and still create a caloric deficit and lose body fat. In addition to losing body fat, you’ll also be strengthening your bones and muscles which leads to a ton of other health benefits.

   Remember, more muscle equals more fat burning so you’ll definitely want to incorporate weight training into your workout routine. If you’re a woman and you are afraid of becoming muscular, stop worrying. You’re not going to develop hugh biceps by doing 3 sets of bicep curls. It takes years of intense heavy weight training to develop large muscles. I say this because many women express this same concern when I tell them that they should weight train if they want to lose fat and keep it off.

   You don’t have to buy an expensive gym membership to workout, there are various things you can do around the house. Take a walk around your neighborhood everyday before work and after dinner. You may it difficult at first but just stick with it, eventually it will become a habit and you won’t even think twice about it.