Eight Easy Fat Burning Tips

Eight Easy Tips on How to Burn Fat

May 15th, 2007 · No Comments

Wouldn’t you like to look leaner, slimmer and more toned? You can build all the muscle you want to but, if you have a thick layer of fat covering it, what’s the point? Here are some quick and easy tips on natural ways to burn fat.

1) Try to exercise everyday for at least 30 - 60 minutes - During the first 15-20 minutes of exercise, your body will use your carbohydrates that you have stored in your body for fuel. After this process, your body will then begin to utilize your stored fat. You want to get to the point where your body does burn the stored fat.

2) Exercise first thing in morning - Morning workouts help in releasing endorphins which help in mood enhancement and increased energy levels during the day Some feel that if you exercise first thing in the morning before breakfast that you burn off stored fat and carbs as opposed to the food that you just consumed. Another advantage to working out early is that you have accomplished this goal early in the day offsetting the chance that you will blow off your workout later when you are too tired.

3) Eat, Eat, Eat - You should have a small meal or snack every 2-3 hours. This keeps the metabolism going (the furnace). When you go for long periods of not eating, your body’s furnace will shut down preserving fat and carbs for energy. Just make sure you make the right choices in your meals and snacks. Don’t stop eating, just eat healthy.

4) Drink water- Your body constantly uses water to create energy, build muscle, and burn fat. Studies have shown that without adequate water, the muscles are less active, the metabolism drops, and your body burns fat less efficiently.

5) Stay away from “Crash Diets” - sudden weight loss diets are perceived by the body as threats. The body alerts itself that it is being starved and goes into survival mode by hoarding fat.

6) Build muscle - muscle needs more energy to operate. This revs up your metabolism and helps you to burn calories a lot faster, thereby making your body burn its fat stores for energy. To put it in perspective, for every pound of muscle, the body requires an extra 60-100 calories a day to maintain it at rest! Resistance workouts can keep the bodyâ€™s metabolic rate elevated for up to 15 hours after an intense workout session is completed. How is this accomplished? Add intense weight lifting to your cardio program. Interval training is an excellent way to do this or simply alternate your cardio days with your weight training days. To build muscle, you want to go heavy with fewer repetitions.

7) Exercise in your target zone - Any exercise can burn fat if you get your heart rate in the targeted zone. The exercises that get your heart rate into your targeted heart range will increase your metabolism and that’s what burns fat If you exercise with too little intensity, you will not bring your heart rate up high enough to burn calories and body fat. If you exercise too long or at too high of an intensity, then you will be wasting your time by working anaerobically (when your body only uses carbohydrates for energy as opposed to using carbs, fats and protein) against your body. You should exercise between 55% to 85% of your target heart rate. See the target heart rate chart here.

8) Eat the good Carbs- Carbohydrates are important for providing energy and giving your body the ability to burn fat, you must choose the right carbohydrates. Good carbs consist of vegetables, fruits (except the high sugar fruit), beans. Bad Carbs are high sugar foods, pastas, white flour and processed food. DO NOT go completely carb free. You will have no energy and feel too tired to work out.

Use these eight easy tips on how to burn fat to improve your fitness and weight loss results.

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