Losing body fat is simple, it creates an energy deficit!
By Daniel Salazar
Energy deficit also known as negative energy balance refers to expending more energy (calories) than we intake.
This energy deficit can be created through the following:
- Our metabolic rate (The amount of energy used to maintain all body functions)
- Physical activity
- Cutting amount of food eaten
- The Thermic Effect of Food-(The energy (calories) required to chew, digest, and absorb food)
METABOLISM
Metabolism is the key to an effective long-term body fat reduction!!!
Metabolism is the chemical process that occurs within a living organism, this is to sustain itself. The higher your metabolism, the more effective your body is at burning calories… even while resting or sleeping. Don’t we all wish for that?
Here are a few ways to increase your metabolism:
- Proper Nutrition
- Resistance Training
- Cardio Training
EATING & NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINES
General guidelines of a healthy and/or performance-enhancing lean body diet include:
- Eating every 3-4 hours
- Ideally, each meal should contain lean protein, healthy fats, and a complex nutrient-dense carb and vegetables
- Examples of lean proteins: London broil, round eye, chicken breast, turkey breast, pink or Atlantic salmon
- Nutrient-dense complex carbs provide energy as well as vitamins and minerals. Includes fruits, vegetables, starches, and beans.
- Examples: Apples, Pears, Berries, melons, Asparagus, Broccoli, Spinach, Kale, Tomato, Sweet Potato, Oatmeal, Brown Rice, quinoa, lentils, black and red beans.
- Pre-workout nutrition ensures that your body is fueled with fast-digesting foods for a longer and harder training session. Therefore, you burn more calories resulting in a leaner body.
- Examples of fast-digesting foods: fruit, Gatorade, or a half a bagel. Try to keep fat to a minimum around this time of the day, it will slow down digestion and negate the effects we’re looking for.
Please don’t think for a minute starving yourself before a workout will lose weight faster.
Doing this will give you the complete opposite effect, it will force your body to retain the fat!
Note: Consuming these fast-digesting carbs at any time other than immediately before a workout can set you up to store fat as well.
- Ensure that 25-35% of your energy intake comes from fat.
The majority of your fat intake should come from monounsaturated (e.g., olive oil), and polyunsaturated fat (e.g. flax oil, salmon oil).
- Drink only non-calorie-containing drinks. Except for rite before your training session.
- Examples: water, green tea, black coffee
- Eat mostly whole, non-processed foods
- Don’t eat anything that comes in a box.
- Cutting calories too much can cause your metabolism to slow down!!!
- Dieting in the traditional sense will cause your body to go into a survival mode, enabling the body to store more fat rather than ridding yourself of it. So as far as nutrition is concerned as long as you have a reasonable caloric intake there is no need to diet.
