Lose Body Fat The Right Way

Have you ever just wanted to lose body fat?  I mean real body fat and not lose the muscle that you have been fortunate to pack on with your previous workouts?  Well, let me explain how you can lose fat the right way and not lose muscle mass. 

First thing is you have to make an accurate assessment of how overweight you are.  There are many different ways you can do this, but there are many bad ways also.  The first thing you should do is throw away the scale.  The scale gives you a number that really doesn't tell you too much in regards to your overall health.  It can be distorted depending on whether or not you are starving yourself or if you are bloated or constipated.  It does not give you the accurate number you need to begin your true fat loss.  I recommend going to the store and buying a nice set of body fat calipers.  When you buy the calipers they will come with a guide on how to use them and a chart to give yourself an accurate measure of your body fat.  There are newer scales on the market that will not only weigh you, but also use impedance to get a number for your body fat percentage.  They are fairly accurate, but the best way in my opinion are the calipers.  Go out and get yours when you are serious about your weight loss.

Second thing is you have to figure out your caloric needs.  Your caloric needs will be dependent on whether or not you exercised for the day.  It also depends on your daily activity; are you sitting, standing or walking throughout the day.  Your activity level will dictate how many calories you need to maintain your body weight.  For example, if you weigh 200 pounds and your activity throughout the day is mainly sedentary, then your calories will be different for the person who weighs 180 pounds with an active lifestyle.  Therefore, you need an accurate assessment of your body fat percentage and more importantly you need to have an honest assessment of where your activity level throughout the day.  

Third, you need to figure out your exercise regimen and make your diet regimen coincide with your exercise program.  Therefore, you will provide the muscles the right nutrients at the right time to build muscle and limit breakdown.  By eating the right foods at the right time will ignite your metabolism and muscle growth.  For instance, if you are weight lifting you want to consume a nice protein shake after your workout that contains carbohydrates and protein.  If you are on a cardiovascular day, then you typically want to wait at least an hour after your workout before eating.  This will allow your body to burn fat instead of calories that you recently consumed.

Finally, you need to put all three things together to accomplish your weight loss goals.  You need to get an accurate assessment of where you are today and where you want to be in the future.  Then, you need to set goals and customize your workouts, diet and activity level to work together so you can achieve your goals in a rather quick fashion. 

I hope this helps your efforts!

For what it's worth,
Dr. B