How to lose Body Fat and weight Fast

With growing health awareness, millions of people over the world are asking the same question everyday: how to lose body fat. In addition to the everyday well known things we can do to lose body fat, such as reducing one’s calorie intake and consumption of unhealthy processed foods, there are some further ways in which we can help achieve our goals.

It seems for many that the older one gets, then the easier it is to gain the fat and you may think that this is the normal consequence of aging and you can do nothing about it. This is most certainly not true however. If we take the necessary actions and steps early on in our life, we will realise that our question of how to lose body fat fast is not at all that difficult.

Fat basically accumulates when the body is storing more calories than it is able to burn or expend. So it follows that we must somehow generate enough physical activity and a reduced calorie intake in order to help shed the body fat. It is not rocket science and in fact the simplest way to losing body fat is to perform some reasonably intense exercise, such as aerobics around 3-4 times a week. If you wish to know how to lose fat and replace this with lean muscle, then you should do some weight bearing exercises.

Very simply, you will be using or expending the calorie stores within the body with regular exercise. If you do this without increasing your intake of food, you will be drawing on your body’s fat reserves to be used as energy for engaging in your exercise regime. If you follow this simple rule, you will definitely be able to lose the body fat. With exercise your metabolism will increase and be more efficient in burning calories. Exercise will give you serious results in your quest on what is the fastest way to lose weight.

With your exercise plan and by following the rule of consuming high protein and high fiber meals every 2-3 hours and not skipping meals, you will be able to keep your metabolism more efficient in burning the calories in using it for energy. You should not starve yourself nor should you just consume one or two large meals in the day.

By doing this you will actually cause your metabolism to slow down which results in the storing of body fat. There is a useful rule which you should try and adhere to – 50% of your calories should come from protein, 40% from carbohydrates and 10% from fats – the 50-40-10 rule. Of course, you should also consume plenty of fresh water during the day as this is also important in the process to help lose body fat.

We are all told about the necessity of exercise to help us to lose body fat, but stress too is something which many people do not consider and it is important to address this. High levels of stress within the body causes a hormone called cortisol to be produced which is detrimental to the fat loss process because it slows down the body’s metabolic rate. You can help combat and reduce stress by exercising of course, but also with meditation and yoga.

Other ways to help in the process to lose body fat naturally includes reducing your alcohol level because this interferes with the fat burning process, especially if you consume alcohol with a high calorie meal. Eating fish is another way to reduce body fat because people who regularly consume fish have lower levels of leptin in the body which is a hormone. Leptin, like cortisol is not good for the fat burning process because it slows down the metabolism. Eating fish like salmon, herring and mackerel around 3-4 times a week is a good regime to follow.

Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables which we should all know about already, but eating bananas is particularly good. Bananas contain a high level of the mineral potassium which has been shown to reduce blood pressure but also to increase the metabolic rate. When you are exercising, the potassium helps to regulate your water levels so you are less dehydrated. You actually burn less calories when exercising if your body is dehydrated which not many people are aware of.

Lastly, another thing which people may overlook in their quest on how to lose body fat without losing muscle is that you should have plenty of sleep. Adequate sleep is important to maintain the metabolism in efficient working order. A study showed that people who only had four hours of sleep were not able to burn carbohydrates so efficiently as someone who had 7-8 hours of sleep.

Losing body fat is not that difficult to achive at all and many people seem confused or mystified as to what to do. By following some of the guidelines above, you will most certainly now know the answer of what is the fastest way to lose weight and body fat percentage and furthermore, help keep the fat off as you get older.