Is it driving you nuts that you just can’t seem to get rid of that extra body fat that’s sitting there preventing you from your ultimate training goals? Are you racking your brains trying to figure out how you can burn more fat and carb calories?
Are you only “percentages” away from achieving that super lean toned look?
Were you hoping to bare to the world this season (in your new outfit) your abs, thighs, chest or arms?
Well here’s some tips to help you melt that fat away…
a. “UP” your protein. Aim for around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Use a low fat, low carb, protein shake to help with your intake. They are fast, easy and convenient.
b. Grill your meat, poultry and fish and remove the fat and skin.
c. Give soft drinks and alcohol the flick and drink water instead – keep tea and coffee to a minimum, using skim milk rather than full cream milk. If you’re socializing on the weekend then restrict the diet soft drinks to one or two cans.
d. If you don’t have much will power then I don’t recommend this for every day use otherwise your eating plan will make you crazy — but if you can “ditch” the following foods for 8 weeks you’ll love your new results and be super proud of your efforts to reduce your carb calories:
Remove…
Low fat or fat free crackers or biscuits / cookies
Rice Cakes and crackers
Pasta of any kind
Tofu of any kind
Deli Meats – including the low fat / fat free kind
Cheese or low fat cheese of any kind – with cottage cheese being the only exception
Breakfast Cereals and Granola (if you are going to have cereal use unprocessed brands)
Breads and Buns (this includes bagels)
Flaxseed oil which provide goodies like Linoleic Omega 6, Oleic omega 9 and Linoleic Omega 3 to assist with muscle repair.
Vitamin C for the immune system, lowering blood pressure, relieving stress, healing injuries and can aid in lowering blood cholesterol. It is recommended that we take around 1000mg per day – quick fact… that’s around 22 oranges!
HMB can assist in the prevention of muscle breakdown. 3 grams (around 3000mg) is usually recommended. Obviously you would divide this up over the day.
When consuming supplements like vitamin C have them with a meal.
f. If you’re a calorie counter reduce your calories by 10%.
g. In regards to carbs in the mornings include brown carbs (oatmeal, sweet potato) or fruit. From lunch time onwards stick to salads and green veggies with your protein portions.
h. Mix up your cardio exercise, increasing and lowering the intensities. Varying your cardio exercise with activities such as jump rope, cardio equipment that includes using your upper and lower body, running up and down bleachers or steps, or perform intervals on your stationery bike etc.
i. Get plenty of rest to assist with muscle recovery. Don’t expect your body to survive your hard yakka training sessions when you are depriving it from sufficient sleep and rest.
j. Another point I want to make is portion sizes. It’s easy to increase your portion sizes without realizing it. A deck of cards is a good sized portion.
k. Aim for 5-6 smaller meals per day.
Give the above tips a try and see just how much difference a few changes can make to your training efforts and encouraging your body to burn more fat and carb calories!
Happy training folks,
Yours in fun, health and fitness
© Mandy Gibbons
Virtual Fitness Trainer
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