Summer is impending and the peer pressure of getting the "Summer bod" is on you. Well, I got you covered with the 3 testaments of losing fat. Now before I proclaim those 3 testaments let me explain the science behind losing or gaining weight. When we aim to lose fat, we have to deal with a broader perspective of losing weight. For the beginners out there, these both might seem the same thing. However, they are quite different. You see, weight or precisely our bodyweight includes our muscle tissues, fat tissues, water, waste etc. Hence, when we lose weight, we lose every single one of the above in a comparatively higher or lesser percentage. We might aim to lose fat but when we drop from 70 KGs to 69 KGs, that doesn't imply that we have lost 1 KG of fat. It implies that we have lost 1 KG of weight which includes: waste, water, muscle, fat etc. Furthermore, do take note, that 1 KG is a very wary change. 1 KG lost in the morning can be easily gained in the night. Our weight fluctuates throughout the day and more so throughout the week. These take place due to a variety of reasons; such as consuming high-sodium foods the previous night which increase your water intake and water retention in your body, leading you to gain 1 or even 2KGs of weight which will be primarily water and waste.
Following this is a second misconception most people have with regards to fat loss, which is spot reduction. The age-old question of "How to lose belly fat?" germinates from this very misconception. It is impossible to spot reduce fat. Whenever you lose weight, you lose weight from all across your body, and while losing weight, you lose fat also (as stated above) and hence you lose fat from all across your body. Now each individual differs. These differences are based on several factors such as genetics. So person A and person B might be following the exact same workout routine and the exact same diet, however, person A might be losing belly fat faster than person B, but maybe person B is losing fat in his legs quicker than person A.
Finally, the 3 testaments of losing weight are:
a) Diet: I) Caloric Deficit II) High-Protein Intake and Veggies III) Water
b) Sleep
c) Workout Regime'
Before I explain the 3 testaments further, the most vital virtue which hasn't been mentioned, but is absolutely essential if you want to see real results is Desire. You will never attain your goals if someone keeps forcing you towards them. You have to want it from within, and only then will the grit, hard work, determination and perseverance come naturally and help you break boundaries and pulverise plateaus. Now for the knowledge and guidance, I gotcha covered.
Diet. The key to losing or gaining weight is calories. Each one of us has a BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate. This BMR dictates the number of calories our body burns just to exist in a day. The average BMR for a male is around 2000-2500 kcal. Now if you consume more than your BMR then you enter into a caloric surplus (the path of gaining weight), and if you consume less than your BMR then you enter into a caloric deficit (the path of losing weight). Now for beginners, it is advisable if you start counting calories since eye-balling calories are very tough for a beginner and you'll end up being critically wrong and consuming more calories than you assume. Apps like myFitnessPal by UnderArmour and Healthify.me do this very task and help you out. A caloric deficit of 300-400 calories is advised if you wanna lose weight. So technically yes, you can still lose weight by consuming KFC and McDonald's as long as you are in a caloric deficit. However, do make sure that being in a caloric deficit is not easy on junk food since a smaller volume will have much higher calories than the same volume of something which is clean. For example, a slice of pizza will be 250 calories which are the same as a chicken breast and a salad. However being higher in sodium, carbohydrate and lower in volume, the slice of pizza will leave you much less satiated and render you craving for more. Furthermore, clean and nutrient-rich foods have a positive impact on your hormones which in turn lead to muscle growth and promote fat loss while increasing your metabolism. Check out our article titled: "What to eat to stay lean" for more information on the same.
Sleep. Sleep is an overly underrated activity, especially in the 21st-century rat race. We often overlook the insurmountable benefits of sleep, in search of momentary progress. Contrary to popular opinion, your body is fully functioning and at work when you are sleeping. After a tearing and tiring workout, sleep is absolutely essential for not only recovery but also pushing harder the next day. Working out instantiates a process known as hypertrophy where muscle fibres recover after being torn during the workout. This recovery leads to replacing the muscle fibres with stronger, bigger and tougher fibres which will require you to assert more stress for it to tear. Amino acids are the antidote or the elixir required for successful hypertrophy to happen, and sleep is the vital initiator or the catalyst to make this happen.
Finally your workout regime. Now, this is a broad topic and depending on your goals, your workout regiment will differ. A footballer, a body-builder, a power-lifter will have very different regiments. Yes, they will converge in the process of having similar exercises but parameters such as repetitions, sets and the paradigm will differ. For most people, there are 2 forms of workouts that you must include in your lifestyle:
a) Strength/Resistance Training
b) Cardiovascular Training
Resistance Training, as self-explanatory, requires you to apply resistance to your body in primarily 3 main functional movements:
a) Push: Motions such as Pushups and Squats wherein you use your muscles to push a weight (either your bodyweight or external weights) against gravity.
b) Pull: Motions such as Pullups or Bicep curls wherein you use your muscles to pull weight against gravity.
c) Rotation: Motions such as Russian Twists where you carry or transfer weight from one side to another.
Now for absolute beginners, I would advise them to start with full-body workouts using bodyweight or callisthenics. These will familiarise you with the motion and will be the perfect tool for building strength. Keeping a routine for Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with the other days as rest days will ensure a good recovery and proper progress. Intermediate users can use the famous Push, Pull, Legs routine or even the Bro-splits. Remember, all these routines are perfect and functional in their own way, but it does not mean that they are perfect for you. You have to keep trying out different routines to find out which one is best suited for you.
Second, but equally important, is cardio. Every single athlete, from a fighter to a footballer utilises cardio. Often people think that they are skinny and they do not require to do cardio. However cardio trains your cardiovascular system which leads to building your endurance both aerobic and muscular. This endurance is what allows you to push further in your workouts, hitting more reps and more sets. It helps you to push yourself beyond failure, and hence pulverise plateaus. Losing body fat is just another side-effect of doing cardio, leading to a shredded physique and displaying all that aesthetic muscle you've been building through resistance training. Cardio does not only mean running for hours on the treadmill, anything that gets your heart rate up from cycling, swimming, to playing your favourite sport or even our well-known cardio on the bed, they are all effective. Personally, my favourite form of cardio is through High-Intensity Interval Training or HIIT. This form of training utilises short bursts (30-45 seconds) of high-intensity exercises that work out your entire body over a course of 7-10 minutes. Being short in time, it seems achievable as you can see the finish line but also is an equally effective substitute if you plan on saving time, and is much much better than skipping your cardio entirely.
Finally, remember that fitness is a lifestyle. I've always preached this and hence I never promote hard dieting for 6 months and then gaining it all back in the rest. Fitness should make your life easier and make you feel healthier and more confident. Not only does it teach you to push boundaries in all aspects of life but instils confidence that if you can bench 100 kilos, so can you ace that assignment. So keep pushing and keep working harder, but do not be too hard on yourself for your failures. Remember, a single day can NEVER ruin your progress.
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