Tips And Advice For Fat Loss
Tips and advice for successful fat-loss
June 4, 2008
By: Doug Hershberger
First off, my name's Doug Hershberger. To give you some background, I was fat.
I inherited a slow metabolism from my mom, and a wide structure from my dad. I don't blame my weight solely on that, but it did have something to do with it. The main reason was just that I simply did not eat healthy, or exercise enough. I played three sport when I was younger, played baseball until I was 17, and had lifted weights since I was 12, although I never put much heart into it. Long story short, I reached my peak weight of about 270 lbs, a year and a half ago. Unlike most, my decision to lose weight was not planned out or decided upon in a pre-destined way; it was sporadic. I can say that I really started losing weight at about the spring of 2007 during baseball season. I was so overweight, that the weight I did lose was just water, some muscle, and surface fat.
By the summer of 2007, I weighed around 250, or so, and because of where I was working, (a nutraceutical warehouse), and the circumstances of my summer, that is really when I jump-started my fat-loss. Between then and now, I have made many mistakes, including carelessly eating bulimic for a short period of time, and over-training. Despite that, the things I have learned from those mistakes have been very useful, and still are. As I type, I weigh 196 lbs, and still losing. I have gained quite a bit of muscle, and my lifts increase every month.
I train 4 days a week, and do cardiovascular exercises two to four times a week. I have not drank a soda for over a year, rarely eat deserts, and am addicted to exercising. Because of this, I no longer crave sugary foods. I plan to have six-pack abs by the beginning of 2009, although I am having some trouble being consistent because of multiple injuries that have occurred one after the other. I have compiled some tips and advise for those who are in need of help, most are ones I wish I would have had when I first started out.
There are two major ingredients to the recipe of fat loss; Diet and exercise. You cannot achieve good fat loss without both. You can only lose so much with one or the other.
It's not as important how much you eat it as to WHEN you eat it.
In order to lose fat without also losing muscle, it's going to take a heck of a longer time than if you lost both...Go with the first option, it's more healthier.
Cheat days actually help you to lose weight. Research this, ask me more, or just try it if you don't believe me
In order to lose fat, you have eat to less more often. At least every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism up and running all day.
DO NOT eat any CARBS 3-4 hours before you go to bed; i.e.- you go to bed at 10; don't eat any carbs after 7.
If you absolutely have to eat junk food, eat it as early in the day as possible, so your body has a longer period of time to burn it.
It's not possible to lose weight healthily without eating a good breakfast - EAT IT and shut up ;)
Read, read, read. You will learn so much and find it a lot easier to lose fat if you read about diet, and exercise, etc. The more you know the better, faster, and healthier your fat loss will be.
This applies to any kind of weight training: Always get two or more non-to-slightly bias opinions that agree with the first one after someone tells you something. Because the biggest guy in the gym or the guy who lost the most weight doesn?t automatically know the most. This applies for me also.
If you really want to lose fat as fast as possible, eat nothing with white sugar, drink nothing with white sugar, and LOOK at nothing with white sugar(this really is not relevant, it just helps with the temptation ;))
Carbs need to be eaten in order to lose fat without killing yourself. (your probably won't die?)
The best fat-burning supplement to achieve your goal is not a fat-burning supplement at all... it's two words; HARD WORK. These two words put into action put all other supplements to shame.
Although it may take long, the feeling you have after losing fat is the most humbling and yet the greatest feeling you will have...it is soooo worth it, so keep pushing on.
Eat breakfast, PERIOD.
Your calorie intake should be dependant on how much you weigh. There is a couple good calculators on BB.com, but you have to find a good average that applies to your body.
Never eat when your hungry, or not eat when your not hungry. In other words, don?t let your stomach control what goes into your body. Schedule your meals, and know exactly what and how much you are putting into your body, along with how much exercise you will do for that day.
You have to eat in order to lose fat. Anorexia or bulimia is NOT an option.
Don?t over do it on the cardio, let your mind and body work together, if your body says I cant go anymore, let your mind argue otherwise, and keep going accordingly, but don't be insane about it. Pushing yourself past the highest limits is for those who want to increase their endurance of pain, such as sports players, your just trying to lose fat, don?t push your body past it's limit, or fat wont be the only thing you lose.
On the other hand, keep in mind that your body's limit is a fraction of what it's really capable of, but DONT over work it.
Fat is universal. Everybody has it, some more than others. DO NOT compare yourself with someone else, and make decisions upon that comparison.
Lifting weights is a huge part of fat loss. Just remember that your trying to lose fat, and minimize muscle loss, not gain both.
HIIT is not for the faint of heart, but for those who CAN do it, SHOULD do it. If you can't jog then sprint consistently, then speed walk and jog, it's the same thing, just not as intense.
Take the word "diet" as a verb out of your vocabulary. You are not, and never will be on a "diet", it is your way of life.
Fat loss does not happen right away. Depending on how much fat you have, you may lose more or less during a period of time.
Unless you are morbidly obese, don't plan on losing 5 lbs a week. The slower you lose, the harder it will be to gain back.
There ARE such things as plateaus in fat loss. I went through one for a month and a half.
For more help, just ask me anything. If you need clarification on a tip, ask, ill explain. There's tons of links that I know of if you want more info on something. My AIM is DougRHersh, IM me if you want to talk. I will post more tips at times. Again, feel free to ask any questions
