Want To Build Muscle and Burn Fat? Here's How!

The problem with going on a diet in order to lose weight is that not only does one lose fat, they also lose muscle. In the process of making diet plans, many individuals will end up feeling hungry and eventually consuming more food, mainly carbohydrates, which counteracts their own intentions of losing fat. The amount of protein that an individual consumes influences the metabolic rate and consequently influencing weight loss. However this weight loss can only be sustained by taking in more protein than the normal recommended amount while consequently decreasing ones carbohydrate intake.
Increasing the amount of protein intake in your diet ensures that muscle is sustained. Increased protein also improves immunity and antioxidant function and enhances insulin and leptin function. All these are important in enhancing weight control.

Many experts recommend that individuals willing to take in more protein so as to enhance weight loss should strive to consume at least three-quarter of their body weight in grams. Others recommend that an individual consumes around 120 grams of proteins a day. A lot of this protein is required to preserve muscles during weight loss. Consequently this muscle activity facilitates fat burning.

Most of the government protein consumption recommendations take only the body's nitrogen balance into account. Taking up of higher amounts of protein increases branch chain amino acids such as leucine. Leucine is metabolized in the muscles and improves muscle function and health enabling one to tone up their muscles. This protein will enhance calorie burning by the muscles leading to weight loss.

With low carbohydrate diets people tend to feel hungry regularly in between meals they therefore eat snacks often. On the other hand protein (along with fibrous carbohydrates) has the ability to make an individual feel satisfied and this reduces on unnecessary snacking during the day. This eventually leads to a slimmer waistline. Cheese and red meat are on top of the list for products high in protein. Other products that are high in protein are animal products such as milk, eggs, pork, fish and chicken meat. These products help in building muscles and will help one in their attempts to "tone up".

Ladies are the most concerned individuals when it comes to weight loss and their first attempts to usually include extremely low carbohydrate dieting - DO NOT do this as your body needs carbohydrates to function properly.

Increased protein consumption is a great way to help lose weight and one is assured that they won't lose near as much muscle (if any at all) as one on a low carbohydrate/low protein diet. This enables one to tone up with ease!

Dallas Saron
http://www.BodyBlazeFitness.com.au

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dallas_Saron

4 Keys To Effectively Burn Fat And Live A Healthy Lifestyle

Weight loss has become the number one obsession in our society nowadays. Unfortunately, what most people don't understand is that getting in shape is not an overnight thing. Those fat burning pills you see in the commercials are as good as any other quick fix product. And if you have tried a quick fix product before you'll understand what I mean.

If you want to lose weight, you'll need motivation, determination, and commitment to a healthy lifestyle. It takes more than what you'd expect to drop off those extra pounds, so if you want to have a lean body you have to be armed with the right mindset and knowledge.

This is exactly what I'm about to teach you in this article, so here I present you some tips on how to succeed in your weight loss Journey:

#1 Lower Your Expectations

Keep your goals and ambitions big, but be real in your expectations. If you start an exercise or a diet that promise tennis ball biceps or washboard abs in no time, then after a couple of months you end up nowhere near that, You know what happens? you'll end up disappointed, and frustrated and you won't have any motivation to go to the gym after such a big let down.

However, if you break your big goal into smaller bite-size sub-goals you'll have a much more accurate evaluation of your progress, and you'll be happier with the results you're obtaining. losing 1-2 pounds every week is a good example of a sub-goal that is easy to achieve and will keep you focused, and make you confident in your diet/workout.

#2 Never eliminate a food group

Many times people deprive themselves of delicious foods that might be good for their health because they heard or read a vague article that says X food group is bad, or vice versa. For example you read that a low carb diet is the best way to lose weight (which is not true) so you decide to cut on fruits because of the high levels of sugar they contain, from today on no more bananas for you. Not only that you remove a tasty food from your diet, but you also deprive yourself of all the nutrients bananas contain such as potassium which balances your blood pressure, regulates the transfer of nutrients, and stimulate muscle energy.

If you want your diet to succeed then you have to do your homework, and learn more about each food separately.

#3 Family support

When you start a diet It is important that your family supports you. If you are trying to diet but your girlfriend, wife or Mom keeps on stuffing your fridge with all those crappy foods (ex: Cookies, Ice cream, Coke, Peanut butter... etc), you'll have a hard time sticking to your plan, and at a point you'll give in to the lazy gluttonous fat ass who's constantly tempting you to give up your healthy lifestyle.

#4 Work Out

As I told you before weight loss is a long-term process, but there is a trick to speed it up. You guessed it, Workout!! By exercising regularly you'll push your body to burn even more fat especially if you focus on high intensity exercises. Not only that, but work outs will help you sleep better, look better, and have more self-respect.

These are the four keys to effectively burn fat and live a healthy lifestyle. And don't forget to keep on learning, stay motivated, and live healthy.

Get my eBooks on fitness and weight loss on this page, and I guarantee you will be satisfied with the results.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abdel_Gadmy

The Beginner's Cardio Guide To Burn Fat And Get Abs Fast

I decided to provide you with the complete beginner's guide to cardio for a number of reasons.

First, many people start out with their cardio workouts wrong and end up losing out on results they could be getting, and therefore they don't reach their fitness goals as fast as they possibly could be.

Secondly, I feel that no one really explains where to start out as a beginner with cardio and how to progress with their improving bodies to promote ultimate fat loss.

And lastly, there are key tips to proper cardio that no one seems to understand, including experts, and I wanted to clarify most of this and explain the importance of these cardio "secrets."

All I want is to help you reach your true fitness goals and to help you burn fat permanently and dynamically through effective cardio. If you never knew where to start with cardio or you're looking for tips and secrets on how to improve your results, this is the guide for you, so pay very careful attention because this is where you'll start burning fat.

Never Start A cardio Session Without Stretching

What I tend to see with a lot of new beginners starting out looking to drop weight fast with cardio, is that they completely neglect stretching and jump right into their sessions.

This is a big mistake and you miss out on tons of results while increasing the chance of injury, which is bad if you want to stay committed to your workouts.

If you really want to get the most out of your cardio and promote fast calorie-burning, you need to simply take 5-7 extra minutes to stretch out and warm up your muscles prior to your cardio.

By doing this, you reduce any risk of injury, maximize your body's ability to perform longer and harder, and you prepare your body's natural fat burning processes and increase your metabolic rate prior to exercising.

The other thing is that you should stretch out 5-7 minutes after your cardio and cool down your muscles.

This helps them recover faster from what they were put through, naturally improves your body's ability to deal with excess weight, and you relieve the stress from your body which prevents muscle spasms and cramps after sessions.

So if there's one thing I'd like to stress, it's to stretch out as a beginner and never think your actual cardio is more important to burning fat than your stretching.

They're both equal and you won't get awesome results when you do one and not the other.

Increase Your Flexibility And Perform Flexibility Exercises

On the days that you don't perform cardio, or even the morning prior to your cardio workout, you should spend some extra time doing some flexibility training.

Most everyone (including myself) neglects flexibility and only focuses on muscle building and weight loss, which isn't bad, but it puts them at risk later in their life as they get older.

Flexibility is absolutely key to just being able to live healthy and long and is especially important for promoting faster weight loss.

The key to real weight loss is to constantly find ways to improve your metabolic processes and calorie burning, and one of those ways is by improving flexibility.

I suggest you get your flexibility up by performing 5-7 minutes of powerful exercises whenever you have time.

By doing this, you'll see that you can go longer with your cardio, burn more calories, and your body will be able to accomplish so much more than if you didn't have proper flexibility.

So, go out and take a gymnastics class or something, as long as you do something to increase your body's natural flexibility. There are so many flexibility exercises, but you just have to find the ones that work.

Start Off Slow And Progress To High Intensity Intervals

One of the most prominent problems with many individuals is their impatience. This includes me especially, because I don't want to wait to get results, I want to do anything and take any magic pill I can to get Ultimate Fitness Results.

However, life just doesn't happen like that and you can't just expect to lose 50 pounds of excess fat in one day and build a toned, muscular body within a week.

Anyone that tells you that is possible is just lying to you, and I don't want to fill your head with lies.

I want to give you the straight facts and let you know that it does take time to progress into hard cardio in order to lose massive amounts of weight, and it does take your dedication and commitment to get to that point one day.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I am saying that you can't jump straight into cardio and run 5 miles with a 40 lb. weight vest on for your first day.

You have to slowly introduce your body into much harder work in order to burn more fat, but as a beginner you're going to have to start off slow.

For example, if you've been lazy for the past few years and rarely get off the couch, then it may be a good idea to start off with some slow, steady jump roping in order to get your body into the habit of working hard again to burn calories.

On the other hand, if you have some small ounce of physical activity that you perform on a daily basis like play basketball for an hour at your local gym, then you may be able to progress past the "beginner" stage and move into something a little more challenging.

All I'm saying is that you have to listen to your body and study yourself to know what your body can handle, and what you're going to slowly work up to.

I will say this though, once you work up to extremely high interval training and begin burning insane amounts of calories for weight loss, you'll see a dramatic increase in your results.

However, you have to be smart for now, start off slow and take those few weeks of getting your body used to hard work through cardio.

Yes, the awesome results won't be instant, but the way you're going to get amazing weight loss results is by slowly working your way up there.

No one said achieving your fat loss goal was easy, but it can be much easier if you do it right by starting off slow and eventually working up to harder cardio sessions. Trust me, this is when I learned how to be patient and the reward for patience is Ultimate Results.

And finally, If you're looking for the absolute best tips for how to get six pack abs then I highly recommend you download my free eBooks which show you how to get six pack abs naturally with awesome secrets that truly work.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Camacho

Master Your Nutrition - To Burn Fat Is Simple - Cravings Are Hard!

Most people start their day either not having breakfast or making bad choices high in fat with no balance what so ever. Then they get to lunch and have a burger and fries, sandwich and chips, or they try to be good with soup and/or salad, not realizing they just ingested close to 1000 calories because of heavy dressing and thick, non brothy soup. At supper they pile on the carbs, eat a large piece of meat and have very little if any vegetable. I bet many people only have 4-5 servings of fruit and/or vegetables per week, and I am guessing on the high side. Not eating often enough, and eating too much when we finally get to eat can have disasterly results on our waistline and health.

The instructions are easy...just read and follow along.

I want to make this very simple. I'm not going to get into the finite details of every food you eat at this point. How about this: If it comes in an air filled bag, you probably don't need it. You need to eat simple. You can get very creative with recipes, trying to keep them healthy of course. So, here is our plan. Divide a plate into quarters. Fill 2 quarters of that plate with fruit and/or vegetable, one quarter protein (about the size of the palm of your hand/4-6 ounces), and one quarter carbohydrate. You should preferably not have any complex carbohydrates (pasta, potatoes, rice, etc.) after 3pm unless it's right before a workout.

I would venture to say that there are not many people who don't at least know that we are supposed to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables per day. This is one simple rule...eat 6-8 servings of fruits and/or vegetables per day. Can't we follow just one rule? This one rule could change our digestive health immensely by adding fiber to our diet and greatly improve our gut motility. Even if we changed nothing else, we should see some change for the better. Do NOT add fat when cooking your vegetables!

Now let's make a few more small changes or add a few more rules if you will. I consider protein to be just as important as the vegetables. Most people, especially in America, are not having any trouble getting their daily protein needs met. The main problem here is choosing the wrong, fatty options instead of something clean and lean. Learn to recognize the fat content in the foods you are buying and make leaner choices. Choose your ground beef at 93% lean or even leaner. This choice tends to be leaner than most ground turkey or chicken(People tend to think of these as healthier choices than ground beef).

Don't forget your fish. Wild salmon is my absolute favorite choice. You can have this 7 days a week if you want. Salmon is high in Omega 3 fats which are excellent for the entire body's health, especially the brain and nervous system. Salmon is also very low in mercury. To stay with our simple theme, eat any other fish a maximum of once per week.

Complex carbohydrates are where the cravings set it. Munchies call for a bag of chips. Mashed potatoes are so tasty with butter, and let's not forget the gravy. Spaghetti and pizza are favorites and tend to make the meal 80-90% carbs. The problem is... once we have them, we want more. If you can control your serving size and eat them at the appropriate time of day, you will see your cravings get under control much better. Some people do best by eliminating them completely. My rule as I said earlier, is to stop any carb intake after 3pm. If you do have them in the evening, have a proper portion... not more than a cup. This should not be the staple or main course in our daily diet.

Finally, don't forget the calories with your liquid intake. You should be drinking half your body weight in ounces of water per day. If you are no where near this level, work your way up to these levels by adding 20 ounces per week until you reach your proper amount per day. Don't do this all at once. Urinating more often as you get used to the higher intake is normal and good to clean out your pipes. Most people today are walking around dehydrated which can send mixed signals of hunger. We sleep through the night, and when we awaken, the first liquid ingested is coffee, which is a dehydrator. Diet drinks are no better. Not only is the aspartame horrible for you, it triggers a high insulin response with nothing to digest creating cravings for food ( usually carbs ) shortly after intake. If you think you are hungry...drink an 8 ounce glass of water. You will be surprised. WATER, WATER, WATER!!

Well this is basic diet 101. This is how I begin care with many of my patients. It seems so easy, everybody should be doing it. I can go into so much more detail, and will in future articles. Each topic here can be separate articles by themselves. Following these simple rules will become very easy and you will be ready for the next level. This is the path to a leaner you. So, divide your plate into quarter, put proper portion sizes on it (hint: all the vegetables you want), and meet the healthier you sooner than you think.

Discover the hidden secrets to burning fat with this awesome 7 week program. Visit www.masters-nutrition.com to get your lean body now.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_P_Tharpe

Does Protein Burn Fat? Read the Definitive Fat Burning and Muscle Building Guide Here

How does protein help you burn fat? Are you asking the same question too? Well, you are not the only one. There are a lot of people who could not find the relevance of protein when it comes to burning fat. However, it does not change the fact that proteins can really facilitate fat burning. How is that possible?

Ensuring that you take sufficient amount of protein everyday can help you a lot when it comes to burning fat. Protein contributes significantly when it comes to developing lean muscles. When your body has more muscles, it is capable of burning stored fat more efficiently. Plus, this will also make you stronger. In effect, you would have more energy for daily activities, your metabolism will be much faster and you are on you way to shedding that unwanted body fat.

Truth be told, protein would not directly or automatically dissolve the fat in your body. However, it is the key in becoming more successful in fat burning and losing weight. When there is insufficient amount of protein in your body, the tendency is for you to lose more muscle and still keep the stored fat. This is because once you start to go ahead with your physical activities like doing your typical daily tasks or working out, your metabolism starts to speed up. If there is not enough protein, the body targets the muscles. Hence, you may see that your weight is decreasing. This is unhealthy because you are now losing more muscle and still keeping the fat. If this happens, gaining back those extra pounds which you lost can happen in an instant.

On the other hand, when there is protein in your body, your body starts to consume the stored fat. Because of that, you will have stronger and leaner muscles and less body fat. Having sufficient amounts of protein in your body will enable you to achieve the ideal figure that you have always wanted without sacrificing your health.

You have to keep in mind that protein is the building block of your muscles. It is vital in increasing the mass of your muscle tissues. It even aids in repairing the tissues that you have torn or damaged because of various physical activities. Aside from muscle development, protein also helps in improving the condition of your ligaments and tendons.

Protein can be obtained by eating the right types of food like fish, chicken breast, other types of lean meat and dairy products. However, if you would like to successfully burn that unwanted fat, you also need to compliment your diet with exercise. That way, your body will not just use up the fat that you take in along with the food that you eat. By exercising, your body will also be forced to consume the stored fat. This results in an effective and healthy way of losing weight. You would not only be able to enhance your looks but you will also improve your overall health.

This is mainly because you will have higher endurance and better physical performance.

Strengthening your entire body is very important when it comes to burning fat. Protein can contribute in making you more active each day. Hence, you will find yourself having enough strength to exercise and accomplish all your daily errands. Juggling these activities will improve your metabolism and help you lose more weight.

http://weightlossninja.org - A website delivering just the facts on living a healthy lifestyle, easily achieving your weight loss goals with effective exercise and a balanced diet.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelly_Quinn_Fitzsimmons

Fat Loss, Abs for Sale!

You can't pass a paper shop or magazine stand these days without seeing promises of fat loss and perfect abs on dozens of fitness magazines, quite literally 'Abs for sale.' The format's similar, a fitness model or celebrity on the front and the promise of rapid fat loss with some focused plan or other in time for summer or that beach holiday in an unbelievable number of days.

Is it possible? can we all get these dream abdominal muscles, aka 'six pack' or washboard stomach?

Yes of course it's possible and the great news is actually we all have something like most of these muscles already, shocked?

It's a sign of the times but sadly we want everything yesterday and expect it in every size shape and colour, consumerism gone wild. Surely it's for sale? When it comes to improving our bodies it seems we are quite prepared to shell out for an expensive gym membership year after year, buy another magazine and another promise.

Don't get me wrong I read and like fitness magazines and anything that helps us to get fitter or motivate to exercise is a good thing, even some of the gadgets that promise a sculptured body for a few pounds and a quick workout.

I know you want me to get back to the bit about already having these great muscles, right? Patience and keep reading. The truth is most people have a decent slab of muscle over the stomach area 'Abdomen' and like most things in the body they are 'Abs'olutely essential, excuse the punn.

The abdominals or 'Rectus Abdominis' main function is to help support posture to the body and lumbar regions during movement of the upper body to the lower or vice-versa, upper body movement and rotation, yes that means sit ups and crunches too.

When muscles are visible and defined, including our abs, I said that word again to keep your attention, it's because they are not obscured by layers of fat, sorry but that's just the truth, it's that simple. Sorry to disappoint but they are the same as most other muscles in the body it's just that we tend to store fat there first for stability and availability, and it's also the last area to give it up - its just evolution.

Actually if you overload your abs they will get bigger in response and you could actually look fatter with that nice fat layer keeping them warm as well!

If you really really want great abs then you need to burn that fat off and show them, and don't kid yourself it will happen overnight, this area will most likely be the last place the fat will melt from!

Dedication, persistence, education and a combination of diet and exercise is the key to fat loss and ultimately great abs for life.

I hope you enjoyed the article, if you would like to get more information and see my fat loss and my journey to revealing my abs over the last months (a real story with picture proof) please visit my blog at:-

http://www.primahealth.co.uk

Good luck in all your training - Rob E Wilkins

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How Diet Soda Derails Fat Loss

If you've ever wondered if that zero calorie diet pop is really zero calories, then pay close attention to this article. Because I'm going to reveal how a zero calorie drink can actually make you fatter. Here's the deal:

Recently, I started doing something most people would consider a little bit obsessive compulsive.

I've started weighing myself every single morning and charting the results on a piece of graph paper. As you might expect, the graph looks a mountain range. Namely, there are a lot of peaks and valleys and my weight seems to jump around quite a bit.

While this practice might seem strange, it's actually been quite educational. Because by graphing my weight, I can tell which foods or drinks cause a spike in my scale weight.

One culprit seems to be diet soda. Or diet pop. (Shout out to the Midwest!)

On the surface, this seems odd. How can a zero calorie drink have any effect on your weight? After all, it has zero calories!

But here's what I've discovered:

When I drink this stuff, about 30 minutes later I find myself battling STRONG cravings for cookies, ice cream - anything sweet.

Often times, I'll break down and end up eating about a dozen cookies. After the 3rd or 4th time this happened, I realized it always happened soon after drinking a diet pop. What gives?

The mainstream medical establishment doesn't have any answers on this but I have a theory. I believe the artificial sweeteners in diet soda fool your taste buds, but not your brain.

You see, when you drink a diet pop it tastes sweet. So your body is expecting some kind of sugar "coming down the pipe." And when it doesn't get the sugar and calories it's expecting, the brain sends your hunger into overdrive.

This makes you crave sweets and sugar. It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature... and it never works out in the end anyway.

And it's not just sugar. Even when I ate a perfect low carb diet with almost zero sugar, if I drank a zero calorie pop my weight loss came to a screeching halt. Most likely because the diet pop caused me to overeat other foods as well.

So if you're having trouble busting through a weight loss plateau, try dropping the diet soda. If the thought of giving up your precious Diet Coke makes your hands shake and your eyes quiver, than cut back to just one can a day at first with the ultimate goal of giving up diet soda completely on all weekdays. (You can allow yourself a few cans on the weekends.)

Drink plenty of water (boring advice, but it works.) Tea is good and black coffee is great for energy. Ditch the diet soda for just one week and watch how fast the weight comes off.

Matt Marshall is the author of the Tried & True Fitness blog -- the only website on the internet that reveals the truth about getting a lean and muscular physique without drugs.

Grab his free report here: http://www.triedandtruefitness.com/free-report/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Marshall

Rapid Fat Loss - Is It Possible?

Looking for means to quickly remove your love handles and fit again in those beautiful pair of pants you used to wear can be very exhaustive and disappointing. Some have jumped from one diet fad to another in the hope of finding the right one which would fit their lifestyle. Many have already turned to believing in the 'truth' behind the supplements or diet pills as their last resort. However, rapid fat loss can simply revolve around food, physical activities, right attitude, and proper mindset.

Food. Of course we all love food. But when trying to lose weight, we should know what and what not to eat, but also when to eat. First rule of thumb: do not skip breakfast, or any meal for that matter. Skipping meals means starving your body and it could lead to eating more than usual when you finally give in to hunger. Also, replace your three big meals with five to six smaller ones to help make you feel hungry less often. In addition, do not eat just anytime you want to. You should have a regular eating interval. You can schedule your food intake (meal-snack-meal-snack-meal) at three-hour intervals. This will help your body get used to receiving food only during scheduled times of the day. Chewing your food slowly can also help you achieve a rapid fat loss. By eating slowly, you can pay attention to how much food is actually in your plate, you can feel full after eating a smaller amount of food, and it also helps your system to digest food more efficiently. Ingesting lots and lots of water helps, too. Aside from washing toxins out and aiding in cleansing our body, drinking water before meal will make you feel full even before you start eating. Doing this can actually cut your food intake considerably.

Actual physical activities have been thrown out the window in this time of technological advancement. Most jobs revolve around computers, as such even play and leisure has been claimed by the world of game consoles and portable devices. But if you want to experience rapid fat loss, you should start getting your bum out of the chair and get moving. You can do some sports that require a total body workout. If you have a sport you have played before, perhaps it is high time to return to the field. Or you can pick up a new sport. There are a lot of sports to choose from: swimming, bicycling, hiking, even badminton. Or you can dance. Dancing is also an effective way to move your body and lose fat while having fun. There are also simpler activities that can help in losing extra weight. Simple everyday things such as taking the stairs, or walking to the corner store (or school or work, if they happen to be just a few blocks away from your home) would certainly help.

These tips might seem simple and can prove to be tough on the first few tries but if done on a regular basis you'll be able to see results soon enough.

Get more information from Livena Eliszewski

http://www.dietsdotheywork.com/fatloss

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