Metabolism And Fat For most people, achieving a lean body is not an easy thing to do. It requires you to build stronger muscles and lose excess body fat. In other words, it’s not just about losing weight and it’s not just about building bulky muscles. It is a combination of both. It can be tricky to lose weight while increasing or building muscle mass. As a general rule, there is a tendency to lose muscle whenever you lose fat. In order to both lose body fat and build muscle, you need to focus on eating healthy foods and implementing effective workouts. Here are several useful tips to help you focus on the things that matter the most. 1. Eat “clean.” This refers to eating real foods and avoiding junk and processed foods as much as you can. Concentrate on eating lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, dairy, good fats, nuts and beans. You don’t need a complicated diet plan. Just stick with healthy foods as much as possible and eat a variety of them. 2. Drink plenty of water and limit your intake of other beverages. Water keeps you hydrated and flushes unhealthy toxins out of your body along with quenching your thirst. Many other beverages have hidden calories in them. For extra flavor, you can add a slice of lemon, lime or orange to your water. 3. Lift Heavy If all you do is lots of cardio exercise, you will end up losing fat. However, you will lose muscle as well, so the reality is that you won’t be achieving the leaner figure that you desire. When you lift heavy weights, it forces your body to maintain or increase your muscle mass. Doing numerous repetitions with light weights are not going to have the effect you are looking for. It is important to work up to using heavier weights and fewer reps instead. The best lifting to do is compound lifts that work several muscle groups, such as bench press, dead- lifts and squats. If you combine heavy lifting with effective cardio workouts and healthy eating, you will be able to achieve the body you desire. 4. Increase Cardio Interval training- where you alternate between short bursts of intense activity with slower periods- tends to be the most effective form of cardio exercise. You can do sprints, use the interval settings on a treadmill or even alternate between brisk walking and regular walking. Long bike rides, swims and runs also do burn a lot of calories. In fact, it can be hard to burn enough calories on just lifting weights alone. So it is a good idea to get in some vigorous cardio exercise several times a week. 5. Don’t Forget To Rest It is very important that you give your body adequate rest so that it has a chance to recuperate and grow stronger. Exercising all the time without any breaks can cause burn-out and injuries. Alternate hard workout days with easier ones and consider taking one day off per week from exercising altogether. Also be sure to get plenty of sleep, especially when you are doing a lot of strenuous exercise. Achieving a lean body does take a lot of hard work, dedication and patience. However, it really is not complicated. It’s all about the fundamentals of eating right and exercising effectively to achieve your goals.
