It seems every one’s looking for the magic pill
“Rapid fat loss you say?”
Everyone wants to get from point a to b in the shortest amount of time with the least amount of struggle. And why wouldn’t they? It’s only natural.
Rapid is relative and sometimes rapid fat loss is possible in some situations but that isn’t the healthiest way of approaching the matter of fat loss. For people that have a lot of weight to lose, and to those who truly have the dedication to put not only their diet but their workout routine and lifestyle in order it’s possible to make rapid fat loss occur. But expecting overnight results is not the best way to approach this. You’re going to have to look at it as a lifestyle change . Most people interested in fat loss are going to have to put in the work of changing their eating habits and working out consistently to make it happen, and even then it’s not going to happen by next week. If you want to do this in a healthy and lasting way It’s going to take some time. This is why crash diets always tend to go out of season. The results never last. The mentality behind wanting rapid fat loss although common is inherently flawed.
{I’m guessing a good percentage of people stopped reading after that last paragraph and proceeded to look for the next shiny, glossy “magic pill” wrapped up in nothing less than great advertising…or hopefully not.}
“Work…ehhh”
Yes believe it or not you’re going to have put some work into losing fat… I know crazy right?
Most people are still looking for a short cut. But seriously it doesn’t have to be such a drag like a lot of people make it out to be. The process can be fun, fulfilling, and really make you feel good about yourself and your body.
The three primary components of a healthy and perhaps but not necessarily always rapid fat loss program are…
Nutrition
The questions to ask yourself regarding nutrition are:
1- Are you overeating?
Overeating is one of the primary culprits behind why people can’t lose weight. Many people would be surprised to realize how many calories they’re ingesting. Counting your calories in a food journal for a few is an excellent way to find out whether your under eating or over eating without even knowing it. Trust me just about everyone who starts a food journal is shocked at what they learn about how they eat. You don’t have to do it permanently. Just do it for 2-3 weeks to learn about what foods are calorie dense and learn more about how you eat. It’s eye opening when you see it all on paper. This how those who are massive over eaters can learn to cut back and usually expect some pretty rapid fat loss.
2- Are you under eating?
Under eating can actually slow down your metabolism and freeze your fat loss in its tracks. A food journal can help you figure out whether you’re under or over eating.
[Wonder why some homeless people are overweight? They're not exactly stuffing themselves full of food all day]
3- Are you eating the wrong things?
In small amounts these things are fine but you’ve got to limit your: Sugar, Caffeine, Starches, Saturated Fats.
4- Are you eating the right things?
You’ve got to be getting in your: Fiber (25-40g per day), Protein, Non- Starchy Vegetables(These happen to be a great source of fiber).
5- How are you spacing out your meals?
There’s lot’s to be said on this. Way too much to discuss here… There’s many ways to go about losing fat but in my opinion Intermittent Fasting is not only the easiest physiologically and psychologically but it’s quite effective as well… I’m just trying to give you guys an overview of the basics of fat loss here so I won’t write a post within a post about meal timing.
As far as meal timing goes if you’ve never heard of Eat Stop Eat then do yourself a favor and check it out. It’s an excellent resource on intermittent fasting for fat loss and it’s done wonders for tons of people. It’s not a miracle pill by far but it’s easier to follow and sustainable unlike most crash diets.
6- Do you cook at home or do you eat out a lot? (hint: this can affect all of the above)
Eating out is fine once you’ve mastered healthy eating and can spot crap on a dish from a mile away. The problem is most of the times you don’t know how your food is cooked or what’s in it.
Activity
1- Do you perform at least 3 cardio sessions per week?
Most people should be doing at least 3 cardio sessions per week if they want to be seeing optimal fat loss results.
2- Do you strength train?
Building muscle can help you burn fat while you sit and channel surf due to the fact that it costs your body more energy(calories) to maintain extra lean tissue(muscle).
3- Do you perform HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)?
High Intensity Interval training is one of the best ways to lose fat and its scientifically documented that it not only gets you in shape faster but also makes you lose fat faster than conventional cardio. Turbulence Training is a great resource of varied and effective HIIT workouts that you can do at home without the need for equipment.
4- Are you giving your body enough time, and resources to recover between workout sessions?(This ties into stress as well)
This is discussed below.
Stress
1- Are you stressed out?
Stress can manifest itself in many ways but in relation to fat loss stress increases your cortisol(stress hormone) levels which can slow down and even completely stop your fat loss.
2- Are you giving your body enough time, and resources to recover between workout sessions?(as mentioned earlier)
Even though many people tend to under train others tend to over training which will in turn increase cortisol levels. 2-3 days of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and 2-3 days of weight training a week are enough. Even then monitor how you feel and if you’re constantly beat up and tired you might need to cut back even further.
3- Are you sleeping enough?
You should be getting 7-8 hours of solid uninterrupted sleep or else you could be compromising your cortisol levels.
4- Are you sleeping well?
Are you waking up to pee multiple times per night? Do you wake easily? Again you need 7-8 hours of solid uninterrupted sleep. Yes it is that important…
5- Do you manage your stress effectively?
Do the little things get to you? Are you easily upset or frazzled? Effectively handling stress is essential to not only living a happier and more productive life but also to maintaining healthy cortisol levels. If you clicked over here in hopes of finding a rapid fat loss routine, chill out. There is no rush. It WILL happen if you want it to but doing this in a healthy and lasting way is what’s most important.
6- Do you meditate, pray or do you have some sort of spirituality in your life? (Don’t worry I won’t be persuading you to believe in any religion. I’m not religious myself)
Besides the fact that meditation can lower stress levels among many other positives. Studies show that people with some kind of spirituality in their lives tend to have more focus and are happier with their lives. Being happier means lower cortisol levels which in turn makes it easier to lose fat.
“Oh God! What Did I get Myself In To!
I Just Wanted To Lose Some Fat…”
Yeah…
May seem like a lot of stuff to worry about ey’?
Well the good thing is most people don’t have to completely turn their lives around just to lose fat. It’s just good to go through a checklist like that to see where you can make improvements and what exactly is holding you back from your goals.
If you hadn’t noticed a lot of the questions have to do with lifestyle. Losing fat has a lot to do with being healthy overall. The fact is if you’ve always lived a healthy lifestyle, fat is most likely not a concern for you except in some rare cases. Even if it is and you want to lose those last few pounds to get to your goal weight or to get those abs for beach season it could be that something on that checklist isn’t quite optimal and when tweaked that could be the “magic bullet”(or not so “magic” bullet) that helps you achieve your goal.
In Conclusion
-There are no magic bullets. Sorry…
-Rapid fat loss is sometimes possible but expecting overnight results isn’t the best way to approach the matter of fat loss.
-Live a healthy lifestyle and fat won’t be an issue for you.
-Losing Fat doesn’t have to be a drag. Living a healthier lifestyle can not only feel good on the inside but make you feel better about how you look on the outside.
-Look at the checklist above and see what you can make improvements on.
-Quit worrying about whether you’ll be achieving slow and consistent or rapid fat loss and get moving! What matters is that for those of you ready to take action YOU WILL have the body you want in due time. Just take action!
