Follow these simple steps to accomplish permanent fat loss easily and effortlessly.
STEP # 1 – Visualize your goals
Fat loss starts with the power of your mind. Use visualization to plant goals into your subconscious mind. If you can imagine it, you can be it! Visualize your success and your new transformed body. Read more on how to visualize your fat loss goals.
STEP # 2 – Write down your goals
Using a Ideal Body Weight Calculator, find out your ideal body weight. Set SMART goals. Something like I want to reach my goal weight of ____ lbs/kgs by ____ date by following a diet and exercise program and staying motivated. Read more on how to write your fat loss goals
STEP # 3 – Clean up your diet
Diet is extremely important factor in your weight loss. Without proper diet, you will not see the results you desire. A proper diet should include a good mix of proteins, unprocessed carbohydrates and essential fats. Adopt a common sense diet which is sustainable in the long term. Make it as healthy and nutritious choices. Click here on how to clean up your diet and lose fat fast
STEP # 4 – Exercise Smarter
Tired of spending hours in the gym doing all the cardio equipment and not seeing results? You need to adopt strength training ( aka weight training/ resistance training). Strength training combined with HIIT is the way to go. Strength training makes your weight loss permanent by creating an after burn effect and keeping your metabolism up. It helps in burning calories in between your workouts. Say goodbye to hour long aerobics classes. Click here on How to exercise smarter to burn fat faster.
STEP #5 – Maintain you weight
Once you have achieved your ideal weight, its important to maintain it. Congratulate yourself and celebrate but continue to keep a strict vigil on your weight.
samedi 1 juin 2013
5 Steps to Fat Loss
Basic physiology shows us the body was designed to eat, and to eat often. This information seems simple to live by until you decide to lose weight. While we do need to create a small calorie deficit (300-500 calorie deficit/day) when losing weight, creating too much of one can actually cause more fat storage than before. Everyday your body needs a wide range of nutrients to function, not just vitamins and minerals. It needs calories from protein (muscle repair and immune function), healthy fats (see my last blog), and yes, even calories from those much hated carbohydrates (the preferred fuel of the brain and muscles).
So if we need all of these calories, how are we ever going to lose weight? The answer is simple, listen to our basic physiology…eat, and eat often. A good weight loss program should leave you feeling well-nourished and full of energy. You should never be counting calories because eating the right things often will put you in the right caloric balance naturally. When this happens, the metabolism is able to run smoothly and weight comes off.
Now, this all sounds wonderful but how is it put into practice? Well, it’s quite simple really, just follow these 5 steps:
Step 1- Eat breakfast. This signals that starvation from your overnight fast is over and your body can start burning fat.
Step 2- Eat every 3-4 hours. Again, this keeps our body fueled and keeps the metabolism from slowing down.
Step 3- Have 1-2 servings of veggies and 1 serving of protein at every feeding. It’s important to fill up on the right things!
Step 4- Time for your starchy carbohydrates (whole grain breads, pastas, cereals, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and brown rice). These are only to be eaten within 1-2 hours of intense exercise. If you haven’t just worked out, replace 1-2 servings of starchy carbs with 1-2 additional servings of veggies.
Step 5- Replace all beverages with water. A lot of times weight gain isn’t due to the foods that we eat, but the calorie containing beverages that we drink. 16 oz. of water should be had at every feeding.
If you have weight to lose, I highly recommend giving these five steps a try. And most of all remember, the human body needs food!
So if we need all of these calories, how are we ever going to lose weight? The answer is simple, listen to our basic physiology…eat, and eat often. A good weight loss program should leave you feeling well-nourished and full of energy. You should never be counting calories because eating the right things often will put you in the right caloric balance naturally. When this happens, the metabolism is able to run smoothly and weight comes off.
Now, this all sounds wonderful but how is it put into practice? Well, it’s quite simple really, just follow these 5 steps:
Step 1- Eat breakfast. This signals that starvation from your overnight fast is over and your body can start burning fat.
Step 2- Eat every 3-4 hours. Again, this keeps our body fueled and keeps the metabolism from slowing down.
Step 3- Have 1-2 servings of veggies and 1 serving of protein at every feeding. It’s important to fill up on the right things!
Step 4- Time for your starchy carbohydrates (whole grain breads, pastas, cereals, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and brown rice). These are only to be eaten within 1-2 hours of intense exercise. If you haven’t just worked out, replace 1-2 servings of starchy carbs with 1-2 additional servings of veggies.
Step 5- Replace all beverages with water. A lot of times weight gain isn’t due to the foods that we eat, but the calorie containing beverages that we drink. 16 oz. of water should be had at every feeding.
If you have weight to lose, I highly recommend giving these five steps a try. And most of all remember, the human body needs food!
6 Steps to Maximize Your Fat Loss
Cardio is the cornerstone to any good weight-loss plan—especially intervals, where you alternate going as fast as possible with brief periods of recovery. To help you make those sprints as effective as possible, we asked Phil Campbell, an interval-training expert and author of Ready, Set, Go! Fitness for his best fat-burning tips.
1/ Warm-up
"You want to take your heart rate up progressively," Campbell says, "Focus on large muscles like the hamstrings and quads. Try ankle circles, knee circles, some light hip stretches—they all get your muscles and ligaments prepared to fire faster."
Train Right With Dynamic Warm-Ups >>>
2/ Time Your Sprints
"The key is to get totally winded in 30 seconds or less," he says, "If you're on a treadmill [or an exercise bike], start sprinting as the machine speeds up. When it reaches top speed, go all out for 30 seconds. Then slow it down and go nice and easy for 90 seconds to recover." If you're running outside, try to cover about 200 feet—roughly half a city block—as fast as possible. Walk slowly for 90 seconds to cool down, then repeat your course.
Running Intervals the Right Way >>>
3/ Straighten Up
Almost everyone leans forward when they work out on a cardio machine. This lets you use gravity to pull you forward, making the effort a bit easier. "If you stay upright during your sprints," Campbell says, "it keeps the intensity on your muscle the entire time."
4/ Never Rush Recovery
You get the biggest spike in calories burned when your body is forced to transition from a state of rest to a state of full-on activity, Campbell says. "Even if you feel like you can go all out again after just 30 seconds, you're still better off waiting the extra minute and then pushing yourself even harder."
6 Recovery Strategies for a Workout-aholic >>>
5/ Go Gradually Outdoors
"When running outside, start with 50 percent of your top speed on your first interval. Go up to 60 or 70 percent on the next and so on." Push your body as hard as you can as you get into the groove of the workout, says Campbell.
Outdoor Training: Trailblazer Bootcamp Workout >>>
6/ Focus on Intensity
"You should never feel duty-bound to do two intervals today, three the next time you work out, and four the time after that. The overall intensity of the intervals you complete is more important than how many you do in any given workout."
1/ Warm-up
"You want to take your heart rate up progressively," Campbell says, "Focus on large muscles like the hamstrings and quads. Try ankle circles, knee circles, some light hip stretches—they all get your muscles and ligaments prepared to fire faster."
Train Right With Dynamic Warm-Ups >>>
2/ Time Your Sprints
"The key is to get totally winded in 30 seconds or less," he says, "If you're on a treadmill [or an exercise bike], start sprinting as the machine speeds up. When it reaches top speed, go all out for 30 seconds. Then slow it down and go nice and easy for 90 seconds to recover." If you're running outside, try to cover about 200 feet—roughly half a city block—as fast as possible. Walk slowly for 90 seconds to cool down, then repeat your course.
Running Intervals the Right Way >>>
3/ Straighten Up
Almost everyone leans forward when they work out on a cardio machine. This lets you use gravity to pull you forward, making the effort a bit easier. "If you stay upright during your sprints," Campbell says, "it keeps the intensity on your muscle the entire time."
4/ Never Rush Recovery
You get the biggest spike in calories burned when your body is forced to transition from a state of rest to a state of full-on activity, Campbell says. "Even if you feel like you can go all out again after just 30 seconds, you're still better off waiting the extra minute and then pushing yourself even harder."
6 Recovery Strategies for a Workout-aholic >>>
5/ Go Gradually Outdoors
"When running outside, start with 50 percent of your top speed on your first interval. Go up to 60 or 70 percent on the next and so on." Push your body as hard as you can as you get into the groove of the workout, says Campbell.
Outdoor Training: Trailblazer Bootcamp Workout >>>
6/ Focus on Intensity
"You should never feel duty-bound to do two intervals today, three the next time you work out, and four the time after that. The overall intensity of the intervals you complete is more important than how many you do in any given workout."
Steps To Fat Loss win
fat loss: it’s not as straightforward as you wish it was!
You’ve no doubt already figured out that fat burning and taking back control of your body is just not as simple as ‘eat less and exercise more’.
While it’s true that this model worked in the past, and it can still work in some individuals, unfortunately it is no longer the norm. And if you’re reading this then the chances are it hasn’t quite worked for you. Truthfully, the only instance in which I’ve seen the ‘old’ methods to be very effective for women who want to lose weight is when they have relatively low stress, get adequate rest, and have never really embarked on a diet or exercise regime before.
I know – who is that woman, right?
6 steps to fat loss success – for life
This is the approach I used to transform my body in my mid-twenties (and to ‘re-transform it’ post pregnancy!) and it’s the foundation of what I use with my Biosignature fat loss clients.
I’m going to give you just a quick overview of each step, and then over the coming chapters we will look at them all in a little more detail.*
Most importantly, in those chapters I’ll be highlighting the top action steps you can take in each area to transform your body and regain control.
1. nutrition and fat loss
In a nutshell, women need to eat more protein and fat and generally cut way back on starchy carbohydrates. The food pyramid (now known as the food plate) has it COMPLETELY backwards. I have no qualms in saying this, and will explain myself as we continue.
We need to let go of the fear around calories and quantities, and focus on quality. If you were to eat only foods that are ‘green in colour, and either swam in the ocean, lived in a field, or flew through the air’ you’d be on the right track.
Of course we can certainly make it a little more interesting than that, and that’s exactly what we’ll do in the upcoming chapter on nutrition and fat loss.
2. training and exercise
Here’s the lowdown: cardio in its traditional state, and group fitness, is NOT the foundation of a successful fat loss program. As a matter of fact, in my own and my clients fat loss training, there is often barely a skerrick of old-school cardio exercise.
If you want to get serious about burning fat both in and out of the gym (and if, as a bonus, you’d prefer NOT to have to spend hours and hours on your training), then it’s time to start lifting weights and looking at new ways to get the sweat flying and your heart pumping.
If you’re not so sure about this idea then just take a look around – many women who focus on the old methods cardio, group fitness, and (to be frank) ‘girly’ weight training simply find it increasingly tougher to be in shape.
This is not how your body is designed to work – it’s not supposed to be that hard.
And it doesn’t have to be. Stay tuned for more on this in the ‘training and exercise’ chapter.
3. lifestyle
Did you know that an accumulated lack of sleep can increase your resistance to the hormone insulin, thus encouraging your body to be more effective at holding onto body fat? This will affect your entire physique, but in particular it will cause you to store fat around the love handles and the shoulder blade region.
How about this one – being under low or mid-level stress day in and day out over a period of time increases the accumulation of cortisol in your body. Cortisol is a stress hormone, and one of the things it does is increase fat storage around your belly button.
These are just two of the simple but very real ways in which your lifestyle can effectively ‘undo’ all the hard work you put in at the gym and in the kitchen.
But don’t worry – we’re going to talk about some very real strategies you can use to combat this; strategies that don’t require you having to escape to the hills … at least not too often
4. supplements for fat loss
The truth about supplements is that in a perfect world, you definitely shouldn’t need them. After all, we should be able to get all of our nutrients from food, right? Going back a few years within my own practice, I certainly didn’t advocate my clients take supplements. I was proud to not be ‘selling’ to my clients, and taught that as long as you eat right, you’ll be fine.
The thing I forgot to take into consideration, is that it’s not a perfect world.
If you lived 200 years ago where, corny as it sounds, the ‘air was sweet and the food clean from toxins’, if you had relatively low stress in your life and a nice balance of work, rest and play, then sure – why would you need supplements?
These days your body not only rapidly depletes nutrients through everyday activity and stress, but the quality of good we typically eat (yes, even when organic) means we just can’t replace those essential vitamins, minerals, fats, enzymes and adaptogens quickly enough to ensure we look and feel our very best.
In order to counter massive stress and toxicity, and most definitely in order to burn fat, we need a massive amount of nutrition!
5. why you plateau
It’s very simple: when you plateau, it’s due to one or more ‘blocking factors’. A blocking factor is a reason why you may not be achieving your fat loss goals despite doing everything – or at least most things – right.
This could include food intolerance or sensitivity, hormonal imbalance such as an underactive thyroid or adrenal burnout, extreme toxicity limiting your ability to burn fat, and a whole lot more.
If you feel that you’ve really been putting the effort in, or that everybody else just seems to have it so much easier despite not really trying, then you’re definitely going to want to read this chapter!
6. fat loss and your mind
Within a few months of dating my now husband, I realised something which was (and still is) quite fascinating to me.
Enzo, while eating mostly healthy whole meals at set mealtimes, also indulges daily – sometimes even more often – in junk food. I’m talking real junk food. Pancakes for breakfast. Scores of toast and jam after his eggs. KFC after training for heavens sake! And most definitely at least a couple of mini chocolate bars each evening after dinner.
Now granted, he doesn’t drink soft drinks or even much alcohol and he does hit the gym with impressive regularity. But you know what else he has? An infallible belief that he looks hot, is shredded, and will always remain so. There’s no other word for it, he is arrogant about his belief that he will always look great. The annoying part is that he’s right.
That photo is him a couple years back after 2 weeks of holiday eating absolute rubbish in China, age 36.
The concept of thoughts dictating reality is one we definitely need to explore – fat loss is not just about math. If only it were that simple, right? When you learn to harness the true power of your mind and rid yourself of old beliefs you can enable almost effortless results. Truly.
So. There you have it – your 6 steps to fat loss success. Hopefully I have you feeling excited, inspired, hopeful, and eager to learn more. Now it’s time to learn how to make these 6 steps work for you, for life!
The rest of this manifesto is made up of a chapter on each of the 6 steps, followed by a summary and action plan at the end.
You’ve no doubt already figured out that fat burning and taking back control of your body is just not as simple as ‘eat less and exercise more’.
While it’s true that this model worked in the past, and it can still work in some individuals, unfortunately it is no longer the norm. And if you’re reading this then the chances are it hasn’t quite worked for you. Truthfully, the only instance in which I’ve seen the ‘old’ methods to be very effective for women who want to lose weight is when they have relatively low stress, get adequate rest, and have never really embarked on a diet or exercise regime before.
I know – who is that woman, right?
6 steps to fat loss success – for life
This is the approach I used to transform my body in my mid-twenties (and to ‘re-transform it’ post pregnancy!) and it’s the foundation of what I use with my Biosignature fat loss clients.
I’m going to give you just a quick overview of each step, and then over the coming chapters we will look at them all in a little more detail.*
Most importantly, in those chapters I’ll be highlighting the top action steps you can take in each area to transform your body and regain control.
1. nutrition and fat loss
In a nutshell, women need to eat more protein and fat and generally cut way back on starchy carbohydrates. The food pyramid (now known as the food plate) has it COMPLETELY backwards. I have no qualms in saying this, and will explain myself as we continue.
We need to let go of the fear around calories and quantities, and focus on quality. If you were to eat only foods that are ‘green in colour, and either swam in the ocean, lived in a field, or flew through the air’ you’d be on the right track.
Of course we can certainly make it a little more interesting than that, and that’s exactly what we’ll do in the upcoming chapter on nutrition and fat loss.
2. training and exercise
Here’s the lowdown: cardio in its traditional state, and group fitness, is NOT the foundation of a successful fat loss program. As a matter of fact, in my own and my clients fat loss training, there is often barely a skerrick of old-school cardio exercise.
If you want to get serious about burning fat both in and out of the gym (and if, as a bonus, you’d prefer NOT to have to spend hours and hours on your training), then it’s time to start lifting weights and looking at new ways to get the sweat flying and your heart pumping.
If you’re not so sure about this idea then just take a look around – many women who focus on the old methods cardio, group fitness, and (to be frank) ‘girly’ weight training simply find it increasingly tougher to be in shape.
This is not how your body is designed to work – it’s not supposed to be that hard.
And it doesn’t have to be. Stay tuned for more on this in the ‘training and exercise’ chapter.
3. lifestyle
Did you know that an accumulated lack of sleep can increase your resistance to the hormone insulin, thus encouraging your body to be more effective at holding onto body fat? This will affect your entire physique, but in particular it will cause you to store fat around the love handles and the shoulder blade region.
How about this one – being under low or mid-level stress day in and day out over a period of time increases the accumulation of cortisol in your body. Cortisol is a stress hormone, and one of the things it does is increase fat storage around your belly button.
These are just two of the simple but very real ways in which your lifestyle can effectively ‘undo’ all the hard work you put in at the gym and in the kitchen.
But don’t worry – we’re going to talk about some very real strategies you can use to combat this; strategies that don’t require you having to escape to the hills … at least not too often
4. supplements for fat loss
The truth about supplements is that in a perfect world, you definitely shouldn’t need them. After all, we should be able to get all of our nutrients from food, right? Going back a few years within my own practice, I certainly didn’t advocate my clients take supplements. I was proud to not be ‘selling’ to my clients, and taught that as long as you eat right, you’ll be fine.
The thing I forgot to take into consideration, is that it’s not a perfect world.
If you lived 200 years ago where, corny as it sounds, the ‘air was sweet and the food clean from toxins’, if you had relatively low stress in your life and a nice balance of work, rest and play, then sure – why would you need supplements?
These days your body not only rapidly depletes nutrients through everyday activity and stress, but the quality of good we typically eat (yes, even when organic) means we just can’t replace those essential vitamins, minerals, fats, enzymes and adaptogens quickly enough to ensure we look and feel our very best.
In order to counter massive stress and toxicity, and most definitely in order to burn fat, we need a massive amount of nutrition!
5. why you plateau
It’s very simple: when you plateau, it’s due to one or more ‘blocking factors’. A blocking factor is a reason why you may not be achieving your fat loss goals despite doing everything – or at least most things – right.
This could include food intolerance or sensitivity, hormonal imbalance such as an underactive thyroid or adrenal burnout, extreme toxicity limiting your ability to burn fat, and a whole lot more.
If you feel that you’ve really been putting the effort in, or that everybody else just seems to have it so much easier despite not really trying, then you’re definitely going to want to read this chapter!
6. fat loss and your mind
Within a few months of dating my now husband, I realised something which was (and still is) quite fascinating to me.
Enzo, while eating mostly healthy whole meals at set mealtimes, also indulges daily – sometimes even more often – in junk food. I’m talking real junk food. Pancakes for breakfast. Scores of toast and jam after his eggs. KFC after training for heavens sake! And most definitely at least a couple of mini chocolate bars each evening after dinner.
Now granted, he doesn’t drink soft drinks or even much alcohol and he does hit the gym with impressive regularity. But you know what else he has? An infallible belief that he looks hot, is shredded, and will always remain so. There’s no other word for it, he is arrogant about his belief that he will always look great. The annoying part is that he’s right.
That photo is him a couple years back after 2 weeks of holiday eating absolute rubbish in China, age 36.
The concept of thoughts dictating reality is one we definitely need to explore – fat loss is not just about math. If only it were that simple, right? When you learn to harness the true power of your mind and rid yourself of old beliefs you can enable almost effortless results. Truly.
So. There you have it – your 6 steps to fat loss success. Hopefully I have you feeling excited, inspired, hopeful, and eager to learn more. Now it’s time to learn how to make these 6 steps work for you, for life!
The rest of this manifesto is made up of a chapter on each of the 6 steps, followed by a summary and action plan at the end.
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