How to eat right....train right and lose body fat!
The wonderful world of nutrition. For most people nutrition is one of the hardest things to get right, mainly because there are so many contradicting articles out on what's good for you and what's not, making it all a little bit confusing.
First of all, 'Nutrition' to me is about consuming the right foods, getting a balance and avoiding certain foods, a 'Diet' is ultimately a temporary fix that let's be honest just isn't sustainable in your everyday life.
There is a reason why 'Fad Diets' come and go, Yes you may lose some scales weight, this is due to the fact that they tend to advise you to eat 'low fat' versions of everything which have very few calories in but what they don't tell you is that these sames things are full of artifical man-made sweeteners such Aspartame, Acesulphame-K, maltodextrin plus others.
These artificial sweeteners are so incredibly bad for you not just for adding fat to your body but what they do to your body on the inside!(Google any of the above mentioned....you may think twice about consuming them) and also just have a quick look at the food label before you buy.....it takes 30 seconds.
Losing 'Scales' weight isn't as complicated as it may seem, it's as simple as working out your current weight, then working out how many calories you burn doing your daily chores to maintain that weight and simply eating less than that amount. Doing this though will not neccessarily make you look better visually, this is because the body is designed to store fat, so it will initailly eat into your muscles stores and as muscle weighs more than fat the scales come down (Ever lost some weight and felt you have a fair bit of loose skin around certain areas) this is why.
This is why 'Resistance Training' is absolutely 'Key' to getting in shape. Most of us exercise to feel fitter and visually look better, we don't train to be a bodybuilder or fitness model, though if that physique came easy i'm sure we wouldn't moan:) ;however muscle IS what makes you look 'Toned' or how I prefer to call it 'Lean'. You don't add muscle with cardio (that improves your heart health which is great but it won't get most people looking how they want to, this isn't my opinion, it's science). Resistance training in various forms adds muscle, by adding some muscle to your frame, your body has to work harder to maintain that muscle which in turn makes your body burn more calories even just sitting down on your sofa or at your desk at work. After a challenging weight training session your heart rate will be noticeably higher for possibly 3-4 hours which is ultimately burning more and more calories of 'Fat' as your body tries to replenish your glycogen stores and heal the damaged muscle fibres.
What you need:
A well designed weight training/resistance plan that incorporates compound exercises (you get alot more as the americans say "Bang for your Buck" from these all body exercises as oppose to isolation exercises like bicep curls or tricep pressdowns) and a controlled calorie intake (this doesnt need to be extreme, you can still enjoy a glass of wine or a pint now and again or have a takeaway once in while) it just means trying to track how much you eat, there is a great 'Free' APP called 'myfitnesspal'..all you have to do is put your stats in, then scan a barcode of the food or just add it manually...give it a try, you'll be surprised on how easy it is and how all the little things add up.
The weights section is for women as much as it is for men!:)
