special edition:How to Burn Fat and Stay Healthy.
Fad diets that promise dramatic,
fast weight loss are tempting,
but are rarely the healthiest option.[1] Diets that leave you hungry or that cut out certain
foods may help you lose weight,
but you'll also lose important
muscle mass and water weight
without burning much fat. These
diets can even impact your health by leaving you deficient
in important vitamins and
minerals. Instead of following a
fad diet that can impact your
health, take steps to burn fat
while preventing muscle loss and keeping your body healthy. Edit Part One of Two: Changing Your Eating
Habits Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 1 1 Reduce your total
calories. You lose weight when you burn more
calories than you eat, so an
inactive person who eats a
lot of food will likely gain
weight. The first step to
losing weight is eating fewer calories. Track how many
calories you eat in a day by
writing down calorie
information on all the food
and drinks you consume. For
foods that don't have nutrition labels, use the
USDA Food Database to look
up how many calories the item has.[2] Find out how many
calories your body needs
to maintain your current
weight by using an
online calculator that
takes your activity level into account. Try this
one online www.bmrcalculator.org/. A pound of fat has 3,500 calories in it.[3] To lose a pound of fat each
week, every day you
should eat 500 calories
less than what your
body needs to maintain
its current weight. Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 2 2 Control your portion sizes.[4] Many portion sizes served at restaurants or
even eaten at home are
much larger than they
should be. When you eat too
much food, your body turns
it into fat and stores it for future use. Read food labels
to find out what an
appropriate serving size
should be. If you want to
eat something without a
label, check the American Dietetic Association Food
Exchange list for proper serving sizes.[5] Use measuring cups and
a kitchen scale to make
sure your servings
match the recommended
portion size. Restaurants can be
tricky because they
usually serve extremely
large portion sizes. Some
restaurants post their
nutrition information online, though. If
possible, check the
nutrition information
beforehand and plan a
meal between 500–600
calories. Remember that you
don't have to eat the
whole plate. Eat half
your food to reach your
calorie goal, then save
the rest for later. You may be able to ask your
server to put half of
your meal in a to-go
box before bringing out
your food. Some restaurants also
have lighter menu
options or half-portion
sizes of their larger
meals. Order off of this
lighter menu whenever possible. Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 3 3 Eat more healthy fats
and fewer unhealthy fats.[6] The types of fat you consume can impact
whether your body chooses
to burn fat or store it.
Healthy fats like
unsaturated oils should be
the primary fat source in your diet. Cook with olive or
canola oil instead of butter
or lard. Other sources of
healthy fats include nuts,
seeds, avocados, fish, and
natural peanut butter. Don't eat anything that has trans
fat or lists the words
“partially hydrogenated” in
the ingredients list. You
should avoid saturated fats
as much as possible, limiting them to less than 10% of
your total calories. To calculate total
calories from saturated
fat, multiply the grams
of fat by nine. For
example, a food item
with 5 grams of saturated fat has 45
calories from saturated
fat. Divide these calories by
your total calories for
the day, then multiply
by 100. You want this
final number to be less
than 10. For example, if I ate 210
calories from saturated
fat and 2,300 calories
for the day, I would
have eaten 9% of
calories from saturated fat. Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 4 4 Cut out processed
foods. Processed foods go through some type of
processing in a factory, and
are usually found packaged
in boxes, cans, bags, or
other packaging. They're
usually high in fat, sugar, and salt that can prevent
you from losing weight. They
also lack a lot of the
nutrients found in whole
foods. Slowly eliminate
processed foods from your diet by cutting two to
three processed items per
day. Replace them with
whole foods like fruits,
vegetables, nuts, and seeds. At the store, avoid the
processed foods in the
aisles by shopping the
perimeter, where the
produce, dairy, meat
and seafood, and bakery are. Only choose select
items that are low-
processed from aisles
like the cooking aisle. Make meals from scratch
ahead of time and
freeze them into portion
sizes to be eaten during
the week. Homemade
soups with tons of vegetables are a great freezer option.[7] Look for foods that
have three or fewer
ingredients on the
ingredients list to avoid
processed items. Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 5 5 Get more fiber.[8] Fiber is a carbohydrate that our
bodies cannot digest. It has
many health benefits,
including keeping your
digestive tract healthy, and
keeping you feeling full longer so you don't overeat.
Fiber is found in whole
grains, fruits and
vegetables, and nuts and
seeds. Eat 25-30 grams of
fiber each day with plenty of water. Fruits that are high in
fiber include raspberries,
blackberries, mango, and
guava. Vegetables that are high
in fiber include split
peas, lentils, artichokes,
and broccoli. Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 6 6 Drink more water. [9] Water is a major player in
weight control. It helps flush
metabolic waste out of your
system, keeping your
metabolism running high to
quickly burn fat. Water will also keep you feeling full so
you don't overeat. The
adequate intake for men is
3 liters of water each day
(about 13 cups) while
women should drink 2.2 liters per day (about 9
cups). If you take part in high
activity exercise or
cardio during the day or
live in a very hot
climate, you may need
to increase your water intake. Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 7 7 Eat many small meals
throughout the day. Instead of eating three
large meals each day, eat
six smaller ones. Your body
can process food better in
smaller amounts, resulting in
less excess food being stored as fat. This can also
steady your blood sugar
levels and improve your
absorption of vitamins and minerals.[10] Just make sure these smaller meals are are
made up of healthy, whole
foods instead of processed
food. You might consider this
sample meal plan: Meal #1 (8 a.m.): One
medium banana with ½
cup of oatmeal. Meal #2 (10 a.m.): A
smoothie made with 1
cup of spinach, four
medium strawberries, ⅓
cup of raspberries, 1
tbsp of flaxseed, and 8 fl oz of unsweetened
almond milk. Meal #3 (12 p.m.): One
slice of whole wheat
toast topped with one
boiled egg and ¼ cup of
mashed avocado. Meal #4 (3 p.m.): 1 cup
of salad topped with ½
avocado, ¼ cup cottage
cheese, 2 tbsp of
sunflower seeds, and a
balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Meal #5 (5 p.m.): 4 oz of
baked chicken with a
side of green beans and
½ cup of brown rice. Meal #6 (7 p.m.): ½ cup
of cooked quinoa mixed
with sautéed mushrooms
and pepper. Advertisement Edit Part Two of Two: Making Lifestyle Changes Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 8 1 Exercise three to four times a week.[11] Exercise is important part of losing
weight and maximizing the
amount of fat you burn. To
achieve the best fat-
burning results, start out
by exercising for two hours and 30 minutes each week,
then increasing it by 30
minutes every week.
Combining both weightlifting
and high intensity cardio is
the best way to maximize fat-burning. Consider
following this sample four-
week workout schedule: Sundays: Week One — 45
min. Cardio; Week Two —
45 min. Cardio; Week
Three — 60 min. Cardio;
Week Four — 60 min.
Cardio Mondays: OFF all four
weeks Tuesdays: Week One —
30 min Strength Upper
Body; Week Two — 45
min Strength Upper
Body; Week Three — 45
min Strength Upper Body; Week Four — 60
min Strength Upper
Body Wednesdays: OFF all four
weeks Thursdays: Week One —
45 min Cardio; Week Two
— 45 min Cardio; Week
Three — 60 min. Cardio;
Week Four — 60 min.
Cardio Fridays: OFF all four
weeks Saturdays: Week One —
30 min Strength Lower
Body; Week Two — 45
min Strength Lower
Body; Week Three — 45
min Strength Lower Body; Week Four — 60
min Strength Lower
Body Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 9 2 Incorporate strength
training into your workout.[12] Strength training is a great way to
increase your muscle mass
while burning fat. Strength
exercises can be done with
weights, resistance bands,
or just using your body weight. Try mixing up
strength training exercises
that work different muscle
parts in the body. Start out
at a slightly difficult weight
or resistance and do three sets of 10 for each exercise
or until failure. Once you can
do that weight three
workouts in a row (full
three sets of 10) without
failing, increase the weight or resistance by one level. Exercises for the lower
body include squats, calf raises, lunges, deadlifts, and leg press. Upper body exercises
include push-ups, sit-
ups, chest press,
overhead press, bicep
curls, tricep dips, and
lateral pull-downs. Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 10 3 Do more cardio.[13] Cardio is another word for aerobic
or endurance activity. Cardio
speeds up fat-burning, but
it also has many other
health benefits including
decreasing your risk of cardiovascular disease. Running, jogging or
walking: If you start out
walking, make it your
goal to work up to
jogging, then running. Enjoy outdoor activities
like sports, swimming,
hiking, and biking. If you belong to a gym,
use its treadmills,
ellipticals, bikes, and
stair climbers. Try interval exercises,
like multiple sprints with
jogging in between. Switch between high
intensity cardio and
slower/longer endurance
cardio for maximum fat
burning. Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 11 4 Get more sleep.[14] Adults over 17 should get seven to
nine hours of sleep each
night, and children from six
to 17 should get 10–11 hours.[15] Recent studies shown the sleep deprived or
those with sleep
disturbances are more likely
to be obese than people
who get the recommended
seven to nine hours. This is because lack of sleep causes
changes in metabolism and fat-burning.[16] These tips can help you get a good night’s sleep: [17] Make sure the room is
completely dark with
dark curtains or sheets
over the window. Do not eat for at least
two hours before going
to bed in order to
prevent heartburn or
an increase in energy
when you are trying to go to sleep. Only use your bed for
sleeping and sex. Do not
do other activities such
as watching TV, reading,
listening to music, or
working on the computer while you are
in bed. Image titled Burn Fat and Stay Healthy Step 12 5 Make small but
meaningful lifestyle
changes. Making small lifestyle changes throughout
the day will help make your
new habits stick. In the end,
you will have made a
positive change to a
healthier lifestyle that you will be able to maintain
long-term. Some small
gestures you can make
throughout the day to
make a healthy lifestyle
change include: Take the stairs instead
of the elevator. Park in the back of the
parking lot. Start a hobby that
involves you moving
around, like hiking or
biking. Go to a weekly
farmer’s market to buy
fresh produce. Start a garden of your
own. Advertisement Community Q&A Edit TipsDon't skip meals. That will
just make you eat more the
next meal, and result in
more weight gain. It’s all about energy
balance; what you consume
in calories must be burned
off with exercise! If you find that you are over-eating during times of
stress or when you feel
emotional , you may need to examine
these habits, perhaps with
the help of a therapist or
counselor. Understanding
what triggers bad eating
habits can help you transition into a healthier
lifestyle. Edit Warnings When exercising, don't over-
exert yourself. Make sure
to stop if you really feel like
you can't go any longer,
breathe deeply, and drink
plenty of water. Slow down and ease off on the
intensity of your workout if
you exercising if you
develop a headache or a
dry throat; this can be a
sign of dehydration and you should drink some water
immediately. Make sure that you consult
a doctor before beginning
ANY type of health plan or
exercise regimen. Edi
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