7 Steps To a Better Body
They say there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and there’s even more ways to lose weight. However there are some tried and true methods that just can’t be beaten for helping build muscle, burn fat and tone up your body. Follow these seven basic steps and start getting results today.
1) DON’T SKIP MEALS - EAT EVERY 2 TO 3 HOURS - THAT’S AT LEAST 6 MEALS PER DAY.
By eating smaller meals more often, your body is able to utilise foods more effectively. You’ll notice improved energy levels as your blood sugar levels should be more stable with more regular eating, avoiding the afternoon low that many people experience after lunch. By feeding the body smaller meals every 2 or 3 hours you’ll find that you are also less likely to feel hungry and overeat in the later part of the day, when energy requirements are lower and excess food is more likely to end up converted to bodyfat.
Many people on diets cut meals out in the mistaken idea that eliminating meals will help drop weight. Unfortunately this isn’t the case. By reducing meals and calories your metabolism will slow down to conserve energy due to the low amount being consumed. This will mean that when you do eat your body will store the unused calories as fat, thinking that you may need to survive for a long time without food. You are also more likely to break the diet and overeat at night when your body least requires it. By eating regular meals, your metabolism should be more consistently active throughout the day, actually helping to increase fat loss.
Protein provides the building blocks for your body's cells and muscles, including your hair, and skin. Good protein sources include lean meats like chicken breast, turkey, lean red meat, as well as most fish. Eggs and dairy protein are also popular choices for many people. To ensure adequate protein intake, many people rely on the use of a good protein supplement as a convenient wy of maintaining muscle tone while stripping fat. A popular choice suitable for all levels of training would be a good quality whey protein concentrate. Quality whey protein concentrates are typically low cost, high in protein at around 77% protein, and low in carbs and fat.
Carbohydrates help fuel your body, and provide your muscles with the energy required during exercise. Carbohydrates, in the form of glucose, are also the only source of energy that the brain and central nervous system use. While your body can convert fats and proteins into glucose, if you want your body and mind to function optimally you need to consume carbohydrates. Carbohydrates also provide dietary fibre, that neither fats nor proteins can provide.
Fats are also important to your diet, however there are good fats and bad fats. Good fats provide your body with essential fatty acids (EFA's). EFA's cannot be made by your body and are important for maintaining many of your body's functions, including the immune system and helping maintain healthy skin, hair and nails. The healthy fats that you want to have in your diet are mono, and poly-unsaturated fats, and are found in olive, canola, flaxseed, hempseed and avocado oils, as well as in nuts and seeds. Cold water fish, such as Salmon, sardines and Tuna, are also high in healthy essential fats acids, and are particularly good sources of the heart healthy Omega 3 fatty acid.
You shouldn’t worry about getting fat by eating these types of fats. Healthy fats actually help your body burn fat more effectively by increasing your metabolic rate, and can help lower your insulin resistance, helping your body use insulin better. Insulin resistance can lead to many health problems including Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. By lowering your insulin resistance you may lower your susceptibility to many common health problems. Using one or two tablespoons per day of a good quality EFA supplement will help you meet your requirements. For around $25 for a 500ml bottle this represents excellent value if you're really serious about enhancing your health.
The fats you want to avoid are saturated and trans fats. This includes the fats found in most red meat, butter, margarine, high fat cheese, coconut oil, and any processed or fried foods. Any fat that is solid or semi solid at room temperature should be avoided.
Rather than counting calories and having to measure everything you eat, you should practice control over the amount of food you eat, or the portion size of your meals. Each meal should be made up of a portion of protein and a portion of carbohydrates. This is an idea popularized by the Body-for-LIFE diet and tends to suit most people. A portion is equal to the size of the palm of your hand or clenched fist. If you practice portion control with each meal you should be eating enough to match your body size.
For fat burning I personally favour short duration, high intensity training over long duration training. This can include sprint training, hill running or shuttle runs. By training at a high intensity, your metabolism will be elevated for hours after training, prolonging calorie burning. You will also find that it only takes around 20 minutes to complete, which is great if you’re short on time.
If you prefer to train at a lower intensity, i.e. power walking or jogging, this is still an effective way to help increase the metabolism and assist weight loss but you will have to train for a longer duration, normally 30-60 minutes, to burn sufficient calories. If you can, do your aerobic training in the morning on an empty stomach. You may not have as much energy or stamina, but your body will be more likely to use stored fat for an energy source.
For maximum benefit combine this with resistance or weight training. Weight training will help develop and tone your muscles, making them appear firmer and aid in strength and muscle growth.
Muscle is more metabolically active than bodyfat, and by adding muscle through weight training, you are also helping to increase your metabolism and so your body is able to burn more calories. Many women worry about doing too much weight training as they are worried about bulking up and looking overly muscled. Never fear, muscle is more dense that fat and so you will find that if you gain the same weight of muscle that you lose of fat, you will appear smaller and more trim.
Write down exactly what you are going to eat, and the times that you are going to eat, train, sleep and drink, and stick to it. To make it easier to stick with your plan, prepare some of your meals in advance and freeze them. That way, if you’re too tired to fix anything or too busy, you’ll already have something healthy prepared that you can quickly and easily get ready. And make sure to regularly measure your progress and keep records of all your measurements.
Weight only scales - while the most common, not all that accurate. By just monitoring weight alone, you cannot tell if the weight you are losing is fat (good), or muscle (bad). Some people may actually gain muscle whilst losing fat and will get dismayed by a lack of change in their bodyweight. Remember, muscle is metabolically more active than fat, and much denser. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolic rate should be - or the more easily your body can burn calories and fat. Muscle is also much denser, meaning that as you gain muscle, and lose fat, your body will tighten and tone up, and you will appear smaller and more trim.
Tape measure - Taking your measurements by tape can be a good and easy way of monitoring your results. Just take some measurements at the start your diet of waist, hips, chest, upper arms, and legs, and then also at regular intervals every 4 weeks to measure your results.
Bodyfat calipers - Commonly used in gyms, and by nutritionists, bodyfat calipers can provide an accurate, but not very convenient form or measuring your bodyfat percentage. For best results you need to use the same person each time the test is repeated, and they need to be skilled in knowing the right sites for testing as well as how to use the calipers. This isn’t really something that can be accurately done at home unless you know what you are doing.
Bodyfat monitor scales - These offer perhaps the most convenient and quickest method of monitoring your progress. By accurately measuring both your bodyfat percentage, as well as your bodyweight, they can quickly show you how well you are going. With models now commonly available for use at home these are one of the best ways to monitor your health and fitness goals.
Whoever you choose, make sure they share the same goals as you. And make sure that they are fully committed to it and aren’t likely to give up after a week. Training with someone at the same level as you is ideal as you should progress along at similar rates. However if you can find someone that has achieved what you are wanting to do, then their experience may be beneficial. They will probably know a few little tricks to help speed up your results and will be able to motivate you through the tough times.
2) EAT SMART. A BALANCED DIET CREATES A BALANCED BODY.
There are many types of diets out there that all promise to be better than the other - low carb, low fat, low sugar, low starch, high fibre, low protein, high protein etc. Whatever diet you choose to follow, keep in mind that for all round health the best type is a balanced diet, one that includes protein, carbs and fats. Your body requires all three of these macronutrients to operate at optimum capacity.Protein provides the building blocks for your body's cells and muscles, including your hair, and skin. Good protein sources include lean meats like chicken breast, turkey, lean red meat, as well as most fish. Eggs and dairy protein are also popular choices for many people. To ensure adequate protein intake, many people rely on the use of a good protein supplement as a convenient wy of maintaining muscle tone while stripping fat. A popular choice suitable for all levels of training would be a good quality whey protein concentrate. Quality whey protein concentrates are typically low cost, high in protein at around 77% protein, and low in carbs and fat.
Carbohydrates help fuel your body, and provide your muscles with the energy required during exercise. Carbohydrates, in the form of glucose, are also the only source of energy that the brain and central nervous system use. While your body can convert fats and proteins into glucose, if you want your body and mind to function optimally you need to consume carbohydrates. Carbohydrates also provide dietary fibre, that neither fats nor proteins can provide.
Fats are also important to your diet, however there are good fats and bad fats. Good fats provide your body with essential fatty acids (EFA's). EFA's cannot be made by your body and are important for maintaining many of your body's functions, including the immune system and helping maintain healthy skin, hair and nails. The healthy fats that you want to have in your diet are mono, and poly-unsaturated fats, and are found in olive, canola, flaxseed, hempseed and avocado oils, as well as in nuts and seeds. Cold water fish, such as Salmon, sardines and Tuna, are also high in healthy essential fats acids, and are particularly good sources of the heart healthy Omega 3 fatty acid.
You shouldn’t worry about getting fat by eating these types of fats. Healthy fats actually help your body burn fat more effectively by increasing your metabolic rate, and can help lower your insulin resistance, helping your body use insulin better. Insulin resistance can lead to many health problems including Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. By lowering your insulin resistance you may lower your susceptibility to many common health problems. Using one or two tablespoons per day of a good quality EFA supplement will help you meet your requirements. For around $25 for a 500ml bottle this represents excellent value if you're really serious about enhancing your health.
The fats you want to avoid are saturated and trans fats. This includes the fats found in most red meat, butter, margarine, high fat cheese, coconut oil, and any processed or fried foods. Any fat that is solid or semi solid at room temperature should be avoided.
Rather than counting calories and having to measure everything you eat, you should practice control over the amount of food you eat, or the portion size of your meals. Each meal should be made up of a portion of protein and a portion of carbohydrates. This is an idea popularized by the Body-for-LIFE diet and tends to suit most people. A portion is equal to the size of the palm of your hand or clenched fist. If you practice portion control with each meal you should be eating enough to match your body size.
3) COMBINE AEROBIC TRAINING WITH RESISTANCE TRAINING.
There’s no way around it, if you’re serious about losing weight, you are going to have to get off your butt and do some work. If you haven’t been off the couch for a while then start out slowly. Maybe just with some brisk walking or a light jog three to four days per week. However after a while you going to need to step it up a notch or two.For fat burning I personally favour short duration, high intensity training over long duration training. This can include sprint training, hill running or shuttle runs. By training at a high intensity, your metabolism will be elevated for hours after training, prolonging calorie burning. You will also find that it only takes around 20 minutes to complete, which is great if you’re short on time.
If you prefer to train at a lower intensity, i.e. power walking or jogging, this is still an effective way to help increase the metabolism and assist weight loss but you will have to train for a longer duration, normally 30-60 minutes, to burn sufficient calories. If you can, do your aerobic training in the morning on an empty stomach. You may not have as much energy or stamina, but your body will be more likely to use stored fat for an energy source.
For maximum benefit combine this with resistance or weight training. Weight training will help develop and tone your muscles, making them appear firmer and aid in strength and muscle growth.
Muscle is more metabolically active than bodyfat, and by adding muscle through weight training, you are also helping to increase your metabolism and so your body is able to burn more calories. Many women worry about doing too much weight training as they are worried about bulking up and looking overly muscled. Never fear, muscle is more dense that fat and so you will find that if you gain the same weight of muscle that you lose of fat, you will appear smaller and more trim.
4) SET GOALS
You need to know what you want to achieve, and when you want to achieve it. There’s no use starting out on a voyage if you don’t know where you’re going, as you’ll never know when you’ve arrived. It’s the same with dieting and training - set some tough, but realistic goals to work towards. To help keep yourself going, set short term and long term goals. Break your goal setting down into 4 week intervals. That means that every four weeks you have something to keep pushing yourself towards. When you achieve your 4 week goals - reward yourself. And then get back into it and work towards your next goals. Many people work in 12 week intervals, setting the real major goals to be achieved within 12 weeks. Make sure to write these goals down, and have them up in places that you frequent alot. Next to the bed is a great place and you can read them each night, and each morning. Many people also find having their goals up on the fridge or pantry door also works well. If you go into the kitchen for a quick snack that you know you shouldn’t have, your goal sheet will be there reminding you of what you want to achieve, helping to keep you on track.5) KEEP A FOOD AND TRAINING DIARY, AND PLAN AHEAD.
This is one of the best ways to improve your success. Buy a diary from a bookshop with one page per day, and every Sunday plan out each week of eating and training in advance.Write down exactly what you are going to eat, and the times that you are going to eat, train, sleep and drink, and stick to it. To make it easier to stick with your plan, prepare some of your meals in advance and freeze them. That way, if you’re too tired to fix anything or too busy, you’ll already have something healthy prepared that you can quickly and easily get ready. And make sure to regularly measure your progress and keep records of all your measurements.
6) MONITOR YOUR PROGRESS.
To keep yourself motivated and on track, you need to know where your starting from, and how your doing along the way. There are several methods you can use, some more complicated than others. Make sure to choose one that you have easy and regular access to. You can choose from any of the following:Weight only scales - while the most common, not all that accurate. By just monitoring weight alone, you cannot tell if the weight you are losing is fat (good), or muscle (bad). Some people may actually gain muscle whilst losing fat and will get dismayed by a lack of change in their bodyweight. Remember, muscle is metabolically more active than fat, and much denser. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolic rate should be - or the more easily your body can burn calories and fat. Muscle is also much denser, meaning that as you gain muscle, and lose fat, your body will tighten and tone up, and you will appear smaller and more trim.
Tape measure - Taking your measurements by tape can be a good and easy way of monitoring your results. Just take some measurements at the start your diet of waist, hips, chest, upper arms, and legs, and then also at regular intervals every 4 weeks to measure your results.
Bodyfat calipers - Commonly used in gyms, and by nutritionists, bodyfat calipers can provide an accurate, but not very convenient form or measuring your bodyfat percentage. For best results you need to use the same person each time the test is repeated, and they need to be skilled in knowing the right sites for testing as well as how to use the calipers. This isn’t really something that can be accurately done at home unless you know what you are doing.
Bodyfat monitor scales - These offer perhaps the most convenient and quickest method of monitoring your progress. By accurately measuring both your bodyfat percentage, as well as your bodyweight, they can quickly show you how well you are going. With models now commonly available for use at home these are one of the best ways to monitor your health and fitness goals.
7) FIND A TRAINING PARTNER
This is a great way to keep yourself motivated and on track. Find a friend or workmate that you can regularly train with. By regularly training with someone, you will keep each other motivated. You will depend on your partner to turn up to training, and you will know they are depending on you to turn up. You can also push each other to try harder during training, and you can even make a competition out of it, seeing who can get the best results.Whoever you choose, make sure they share the same goals as you. And make sure that they are fully committed to it and aren’t likely to give up after a week. Training with someone at the same level as you is ideal as you should progress along at similar rates. However if you can find someone that has achieved what you are wanting to do, then their experience may be beneficial. They will probably know a few little tricks to help speed up your results and will be able to motivate you through the tough times.
