Accelerated Weight Loss With Diet: Elements to Know

A diet that helps you lose weight easily is something very open to interpretation. This could be fruit based or protein based; however, does it help you particularly? Well, that only your dietician can tell you. However, there are some elements of a weight loss diet that we can learn about from this write-up.

Calorie Deficit

Energy expenditure is also called calorie deficit. In simple terms, energy spent minus energy consumed is calorie deficit.

• If you eat more than your burns, you gain fat and weight.
• Calorie deficit is when your intake calories are lesser than the calories burned.
• Creating a calorie deficit is often considered the most important and primary step in weight loss.
• Few ways to set and achieve a calorie deficit are:
• Setting up your goals as to how much calories you want to lose to a specific number. Calculations are based on roughly one pound of fat carrying 3500 calories.
• A second more sane option is to set calorie intake as per the body weight as a single specific value might be too drastic or too slow.
• Another value option is of cutting the calories as much as possible.
• Reducing calorie intake by a fixed percentage is another option. For example, setting a 10% deficit and then if your intake is 2000 calories daily; you reduce it by 200 calories and take in approximately 1800 calories.
• Three different calorie deficits are:
• Small Calorie Deficits: <15% difference between required intake and your intake.
• Medium: Between 15-25%.
• Large:35%.

Distribution between Fats, Proteins and Carbohydrates

• Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are three major energy providers to the body.
• Carbohydrates are basically sugars of two types: simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates.
• Glucose, the primary source of energy in body, is a carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are primary source of energy.
• Lack of carbohydrates causes the amino acids to be converted into glucose and hence muscle loss and various other problems. Therefore for strength training people, it is important not to skip carbs to reduce fats and weight.
• Proteins give 4kcal per gram, but proteins are primarily enzymes, hormones, antibodies etc.
• Primary function of proteins is as building blocks of the body which makes them essential for those undergoing strength training.
• In diets, whey proteins are often considered very important and are also taken in the form of supplements.
• Fats are considered a complete ban in the diet. However, it is wrong.
• Fats provide an energy reserve and also essential fatty acids. These fatty acids are a very important constituent of cell membrane.
• In addition to that, fats carry fat-soluble nutrients to different parts of the body.
• Unsaturated fatty acids are good for the body. Saturated fatty acids are composed by the body itself in the quantity required by it, and hence taking in more of that is not good. Trans-fats are worse than saturated fatty acids. Unsaturated fatty acids improve cholesterol levels and are important in various other ways.

Allowed and Disallowed Foods for Strength Training Workouts

• First is a list of foods that must be avoided:
• Fruit Juices: although fruits are great for the body, fruit juices are bad and must be avoided.
• High carbs/fat food: foods like pizza, lasagna, whole milk, cookies, and ice creams must be avoided too.
• Flavoured oatmeal and other flavoured products: flavoured products usually have a coating that is mostly sugary. It is best when avoided and the plain version must be chosen.
• White bread and most of the breakfast cereals.
• Rice cakes must be avoided too.
• Soya protein and alcohol.
• Fat free snacks: these usually have other sugars added that may be more dangerous than the normal fats.
• Now the list of allowed foods:
• Egg whites: they have 84% protein content, 8% carbohydrates and absolutely zero fat. A total of 50 calories is what an egg white has.
• Chicken Breast: With 172 calories, it has 48% proteins and 48% fats.
• Fish: some of the fishes like Tuna, Trout, and Salmon are considered having high protein content and a little fat content with no carbohydrates.
• Beans and Legumes: Beans have high protein content with a good carbohydrate and fat content too. They are nutritious and healthy.
• Slow burning carbs like the ones found in oatmeal and sweet potatoes are very important for those undergoing strength training.
• The most essential portion of any diet plan is water; same is the case with strength training. The number one consideration in a weight loss strength training workout.
• Whey protein are the fastest absorbing and highly efficient proteins which cover most essential amino acids and plenty of non-essential amino acids too.

A Fitness Regime that Really Works: More than Just Exercise for Weight Loss

To exercise for weight loss is indispensible. But is there something more to keeping fit than exercising? Yes, of course. You would second that there is nothing more effective than a combination of workout and keeping a watch on what you eat. However, we tell you that even that combination fails to work if you are not taking care of certain other small things.

If you keep reading expert advice columns on weight loss, you might know a few secrets to keeping your pounds in check. From not gorging on junk to drinking appropriate amount of water are just some of the things that you can incorporate in your daily schedule. A lot of people who suffer from stubborn baby fat complain that nothing seems to work for them – be it diet, exercise or both.

Is there a way out for such people who feel betrayed by what the experts have to say? We provide you a good amount of insight that will help you understand how to master the art of fitness. So, are you ready for the dose of small tips, which are easy to understand and to practice? After reading these, you will realise that fitness is not a onetime thing but a lifestyle that comes in a package. No doubt that simple exercise for weight loss is important in the right amounts, but more than that, your willpower holds the power to get you there. If you see yourself running a marathon six months to one year from now, this list is definitely for you to incorporate in your daily life. 

Water

If your feel too tired even before complete your workout, chances are you are dehydrated. Hence, in order to avoid lethargy during the workout sessions, it would be best to keep a water bottle along with you and drink enough water. During an hour of workout, an individual should ideally look at consuming one litre of water.

The right Exercise

In order to have optimum effect of your fitness regime on your weight, it is extremely important that you do the right set of exercises because the right exercise for you is better than any best exercises for weight loss. Building muscles would mean challenging your workout capacity to the hilt. And the only way would be to stretch and overload yourselves.

Introduce variety in your workout

Once you have found the fitness routine most effective for you, you should move on thinking about ways to introduce variety in you exercises. So the set of exercises you do on a particular day should be bit different from the exercise you do the next day. This would definitely boost your progress.

Address the adaptability issue

Human body is prone to get adapted to the exercises that are done regularly. Adding variety tackles the issue quite well but that should mean different set exercise for each muscle group. It also means that the fitness routine is altered every now and then. This will keep the body enough challenged on all times.

Not stretching in between exercises

You might believe that faster your workout session the more efficiently your muscles work. This is just a myth. It is important that the muscles are stretched in between various exercises, only then will it be refuelled with glycogen and the muscle fibre will be able to realign. Simply stretch just for 15-20 seconds if you have to, which would be the time taken between moving from one equipment to another.

Don’t be shy in picking expert advice

Whatever your gym instructor tell you, you should treat it as your bible and follow it diligently. And there is no need of shying from the fact he states or advices he gives you. Feeling embarrassed to put the advices into proactive is actually harming just yourself.

Being in a foreign environment should not intimidate you. This ends up making you do exercises wrongly. This would also mean giving up sooner than you had even thought of. 

Eating after workout session

Ideally, one should eat something within the two hours of the workout session, otherwise all that workout will render useless. This is because during workout, the body uses up lot of energy and the body needs more of it. Running hungry for long will trick the body into thinking that it is in a starving mode and thus, will start storing preserving the fat.

Use a mirror in the gym

Not many realise that mirrors in gym ensure that you are holding properly during the session. Without mirrors, people can actually end up with a bad posture of their exercise which will not only result in non-effectiveness of your fitness regime but also may turn out harmful for your body.

All these things help you bit by bit to reach your fitness goal. In the end, you get leaner, fitter and better! 

How Strength Exercises Accelerate Fat Loss

Wondering how to lose that belly or the tough fat sitting on your thighs? Here is something that never fails – strength exercises.

Introduce Strength Training:

·         Any exercise that specializes in using resistance to induce muscle contract for building strength, anaerobic endurance and size of skeletal muscles is strength training exercise.

·         When the target from an exercise is building muscles and core strength, it is called strength training.

·         Strength training works by increasing the metabolism of the muscles. Higher the metabolism, higher the calories needed to keep the muscles in shape and hence higher calories burnt and fat lost.

·         Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) is increased and therefore even 38 hours after an exercise, you may still be burning fat.

·         Resting Metabolism Rate (RMR) is increased which means more calories are needed for the metabolism of the muscles when they increase in size and strength. Every one pound of muscles gained increases RMR by about 30-50 calories.

·         Increased bone, muscle, ligament and tendon strength are the results of strength training exercises.

·         Bone density is improved, as also cardiac function. The body is lesser prone to injuries, joints are stronger too. Good cholesterol or HDL is elevated.

·         Strength training involves repetitions, sets, tempo, force and exercises in various combinations to get the desired results for increase in size, endurance or strength of the muscle groups.

Introduce 5 Basic Exercises

·         Standing Calf Raises

o   Your legs workout isn’t complete without strong calf muscles. However, they can be trained more often than other large muscle groups.

o   While quadriceps and hamstrings are larger muscle groups, and hence get more attention in training, calf muscles are very important because they are used in virtually every activity including stepping, which includes walking, running and climbing.

·         Leg Extensions

o   Leg extensions are an isolation strength training regime targeting quadriceps muscles in the legs.

o   Leg Extension Machine is used for this workout and is made by different manufacturers.

o   The exercise involves bending of the knees, extending legs, and then lowering them to rest position.

·         Biceps Curls

o   Any weight training exercise that targets biceps brachii muscle may be called Biceps Curls.

o   It is an isolation exercise involving lifting of weights via curling motion of the arm primarily involving biceps muscles.

·         Shoulder Press

o   Shoulder press may also be referred to as overhead press.

o   It is a compound strength exercise which is performed when standing.

o   Weight is pressed straight upwards until the arms are locked.

o   Dumbbell press is a variation done with dumbbells instead of machine.

·         Military Press

o   It is a variation of overhead shoulder press with no pre-movement momentum and strict form.

o   It targets deltoid muscles as well as triceps.

Bench Press

·         Bench press is an upper body exercises.

·         It is a compound exercise with primary focus being pectoralis major muscle.

·         Supporting muscles include triceps, trapezii, and corachobrachialis.

·         Steps for performing Basic Bench Press:

o   Lay down flat on your back in relaxed and natural position.

o   Make sure your shoulders aren’t in awkward position.

o   Your feet must be flat on ground.

o   The bench should properly fit your shoulders. Narrow or wider bench may not be as effective.

o   Do not use cushiony bench if you lift heavy weights.

o   Now move your arms straight out and bend the elbows to move your hand up to touch the bar.

o   Widen your grip. It increases the amount of pectoral muscles involved.

o   Before adding weights, just use bar to start the exercise.

o   Lift the bar and hold it directly above your chest.

o   It is important to inhale while you do this.

o   Now move the bar up. The bar must be moved to the normal stretch of your arms.

o   Exhale during the process.

o   Do eight repetitions of the same.

o   Increase the weights by 5 or 10 pounds.

o   Do not touch or hit the rod or weights on the chest anytime during the exercise.

Deadlift

·         Deadlift is a weight training exercise.

·         Deadlift along with squat is a complete exercise, one of the very few exercises that involve full body to lift weights. Therefore it is a complete strength training exercise.

·         Different muscle groups targeted by deadlifts are quads, hamstrings, gluteal muscles, lower back, traps, and forearms.

·         Steps to do a Deadlift:

o   Put the barbell on the ground with weights being added as per your fitness and strength.

o   When not sure, start light and add weights later. It is a good idea to start with 5 pounds.

o   Place your feet almost shoulder width apart.

o   Stand such that the balls of the feet are directly below the bar.

o   Point your feet slightly outward for more balance.

o   Bend your knees while keeping your back straight.

o   Bend from the hips and not waist.

o   Grasp the bar and keep your arms straight.

o   You may use mixed grip with one palm pointing outward and one inward, or you may use simple grip with both palms pointing outwards.

o   Lower your hips.

o   Your thighs must be parallel to the floor.

o   Straighten your back and look straight ahead.

o   Lift your hips and shoulders at same rate and thereby lifting the weight.

Pull Ups

·         Pull-ups are strength training or weight training exercises aimed at building upper body strength.

·         The main target muscle from the exercise is latissimus dorsi muscle in the back with various other supporting muscles.

·         Pull ups are also used in measuring upper body strength in armed forces, and therefore it is an ideal test used in many armed forces around the world.

·         Steps to do a pull-up:

o   Grip a pull up bar in either supinated (underhand) or pronated (overhand) grip.

o   In the beginning, your arms must be fully extended and relaxed.

o   Until the chin is slightly above the bar, pull your bodyweight up.

o   Now lower yourself, making your arms fully extended.

o   Do 10 repetitions and 3 steps if possible. With more practice and stamina, you can increase it to more repetitions and steps.

o   You may want to cross your legs to keep weight cantered and throw away your shoes to lose the extra weight.

·         A tradition pull-up doesn’t involve any swinging or kipping, meaning that no assistance from legs is used.

·         It replies only on the upper body strength.

·         American Council on Exercise issues a safety advice which states to not put undue pressure on your shoulders while pulling up.

Barbell Squat

·         Barbell squats are a type of squats requiring more work and hence they are more intensive than squats.

·         They train both upper and lower body, mainly targeting the biggest muscle groups of the body.

·         They also work out hamstrings, lower back and shoulders.

·         Since the weights are added to shoulder, care must be taken as it can hurt spine badly.

·         Steps for doing Barbell Squats:

o   You may choose to stand hip width or shoulder width apart.

o   Just above the shoulders, on the meaty part of shoulders, that is trapezius muscles, place the barbell.

o   If it hurts to place directly, use a bar pad.

o   Lower into the squat position by bending your knees.

o   Either when your knees are at 90 degree or when the body loses its natural arc, stop.

o   To stabilize your body with a strong torso, use glutes and legs by contraction.

o   Slowly stand up to the starting position.

o   Take care not to lock your legs in the process.

o   You may take 10-15 repetitions of 1-3 set cycles.

o   As in any exercise, if you are not sure start with a lesser weight than you think you can take.

o   Knees must always be maintained in line with toes.

Barbell Rowing

·         Barbell rowing is an exercise targeting the back muscles.

·         They are also called as bent over rowing.

·         In bodybuilding and power lifting, it is a fairly important exercise.

·         Which muscles are affected particularly depend on the form of barbell rowing exercise.

·         Various forms of the same may be

o   Underhand grip row, standing

o   Overhand grip row, standing

o   T-bar row

·         Steps of basic Barbell Rowing exercise:

o   Use an overhand grip to hold the bar. The hands should be slightly more than shoulder width apart.

o   Stand on your feet shoulder width apart.

o   Knees should be slightly bent.

o   Lean approximately 45 degrees from the waist.

o   One big mistake that could be dangerous is curve of the back. The back/spine must always be straight as curvature may cause serious spine trouble.

o   Pull the bar till the lower chest.

o   Exhale during the process.

o   To stabilize your spine, it is advised to keep your core muscles contracted.

o   Allow the bar to move to original position in slow and relaxed, yet controlled movements.

o   Eccentric portions of the exercise must be completed with focus being on the lats.

o   Cable and dumbbell versions of the same work well too.

o   For more training of the biceps muscles, reversed grip works well too. 

Aerobic Exercise for a Flat Tummy and Weight Loss

Have you ever wondered why Kenya and other African countries produce so many great runners who are in great health despite being skinny? I guess their good health and stamina in itself is a great proof for the success of aerobic exercises as a weight loss medium.

What are Aerobic Exercises?

Aerobic exercises are also known as cardio-vascular exercises. They are exercises involving large muscle groups like legs, hands, hips etc and involve sustained rhythmic movements. The most common example of an aerobic exercise is running or jogging, while walking, swimming, sprinting also are other forms of aerobic exercise.

Aerobic exercise increase our body’s oxygen need by making the lungs work harder. This has various benefits and apart from being  the key to weight loss it is also the answer to how to reduce tummy. Reduced blood pressure, increased efficiency of lungs and heart, better respiratory system and reduced stress are several of the other advantages of aerobic exercises apart from weight loss.

How Do They Help in Weight Loss From Tummy

It is important to understand how tummy weight loss and fat loss occur. Weight loss from the stomach and from other parts of body by a calorie deficit. It basically means you need to spend more calories than you eat to reduce weight. Aerobics are great for overall sustained weight loss as they burn the calories almost proportionally.  Half an hour of jogging may be enough to burn 300 calories, for example.

Aerobic exercises can even be done at a small corner in one’s home, and certain aerobic exercises are very enjoyable too. Or you can head outdoors to a park, on streets, in a local gym or swimming pool, dance classes.

Aerobic Exercises without Joining Gym

As mentioned above, many of the aerobic exercises can be done without joining any gym. Let us start with one of the few enjoyable exercises: dancing. Yes, dancing is a form of aerobic exercise and helps a great deal in reducing calories. So put on your favourite CD and start dancing. Alternatively, look up YouTube for dance class videos or sign up to some dance classes and learn them properly, and lose weight side by side.

Another exercise that can be done inside your home is to reduce thigh and tummy fat or love handles is Spot Jogging. Spot jogging means you’re staying at the same spot while making your body parts move as you’re jogging. It is generally not advised to do spot jogging, but it is a way of burning calories, anywhere and anytime. You can also get yourself a treadmill and do the running exercises at your home. it will also help you record your progress.

A simple and cheap skipping rope is also enough to get you a good dose of exercise. It costs under 20 dollars, fits anywhere easily and requires about a foot of headspace above, in front and behind, and can be used by anyone at all. You can burn calories equivalent to a mile run in about 10 minutes by skipping ropes. It’s easy, cheap, and convenient.

If weather and your time permit, heading to the nearest park or street pathway for running or jogging is a very good way to not only lose weight but also improve overall fitness. Running, jogging, brisk walking, all improve blood circulation and respiratory system. It is important however to heed caution when outdoors, especially on street.

While running is good, unless you can run for an hour or more every day, the results won’t be good enough to motivate you enough. For the same reason, instead of running regularly, sprinting is advised where you perform an exercise at full intensity in short bursts rather than taking a long route in consistent intensity.  Slowly and steadily, the stamina will increase, and so will the duration of the short bursts where you run or perform the exercise at high intensity.

Exercises at the Gym Help Reduce Tummy Fat

While most of cardio exercise machines are now available for sale, it is still a cheaper and more feasible solution to visit a gym where you can have various different exercise machines as well as a trainer to help you perform.

Various types of exercise machines at almost every gym include treadmills, cross-trainer, exercise bikes, while some of them also have rowing and ski machines. It is a good habit to have a routine of different exercises for short durations instead of one exercise for longer duration. It is good to balance out the training.

Another outdoor exercise which has multiple health benefits is swimming. Swimming is a gentle exercise with whole body movement and lesser threats of injury. Swimming is safe, and there is no fear of sweaty armpits either. It makes one feel fresh at the same time. However, if you are considering it for stomach and waistline, it probably isn’t a good exercise. Though for weight loss and fitness, it works wonders.

  

Aerobic exercises can be performed 3-5 days a week for half an hour to an hour. Not only will it help in weight loss, it will also improve blood circulation, reduce stress and help you reduce tummy fat.