Burning Fat For Dummies

There are thousands upon thousands of weight loss sites on the web, and every day more are added. Most of them are what I call "Madden Sites". They tell you things you already know and offer little to no real information. Then there are the commercial sites that are nothing but sales pages for some "hot new" product that offers a "body like Arnold's" with no work! If you are dumb enough to believe that, then my friends the only weight you are going to lose is going to come straight from your wallet. There are a few sites out there that offer real weight loss advice, but most of them are paid subscriber sites that require a membership to join, and even then finding the info you really need is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Simple, while from time to time I will talk about and give you links to products I recommend, as well as run ads on this site, I will also give you the best possible info for the low low price of... free. Forget swine flu, obesity is the real epidemic this country needs to fight. Being overweight (aside from being aesthetically unpleasant) can lead to some very serious, very real health problems, not the least of which are diabetes and heart disease. I read blogs and sites all the time where people say "if I can convince one person to change it's all worth it", well dear reader, let me simply say... f*ck that! I want everyone who reads this to change in some way to live a more healthy lifestyle.

What Will I Find Here?

On this site I will cover the basic principals of fat loss. I will talk about what works and what doesn't as it relates to exercise and nutrition. I'll give you some tips and tricks to help speed up your fat loss, but most importantly of all, I will give you a "no-BS" guarantee that nothing I tell you will be "hyped up" or sugar-coated. So, let's get started...

First of all, everything you read here is going to be in plain English so that it's easy for everyone to understand. If you are looking for more clinical descriptions (I can't imagine why you would be) you'll want to look elsewhere. So now, back to burning fat. Try to imagine your body as a factory. Like any factory, your body is full of machines (you muscles and organs) each serving their own purpose. Now like any other machines, they require some sort of fuel to keep them running, in this case your "fuel" is calories. You fuel your machines by giving them calories (eating/drinking). 

As your machines run they produce a several byproducts (heat, waste, etc.). Still with me so far? O.k., now your factory (body) has a set amount of food that it needs to maintain it's operation. This is know as your Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR). Just to make sure we're all on the same page let's recap: Your body takes in calories to run, the number of calories you need to intake each day in order to maintain your current body weight is your BMR.

Now if the number of calories you take in each day is greater than your BMR, you gain weight. If it's below your BMR, you lose weight. Now while there is a little more to it than that, that's a good enough description to be going on with.

Here is the first piece of information you're probably not going to like. You know how on almost every commercial you see for any kind of weight loss drug/program/equipment they have that little disclaimer "you should consult a physician before beginning any weight loss program"? Even though they are just covering their rear-ends, it's also a very good idea. Tell your doctor you are beginning a weight loss program and you would like to know your BMR, they will be able to give you a good number to get started with.

Not quite yet. First you need to set your goals, both long range and short term. If your ultimate goal is losing 10lbs or 100lbs you still need goals and a plan to get there. In the next few sections I will talk about how to get started with a weight loss program and the mechanics of a fat burning lifestyle. What you need to do is set your long range goal. Figure out where you want to end up, be it just losing enough weight to be healthy or if you want to jump into the world of bodybuilding and really go for a body like Arnold's (I promise you it WILL take lots of work).

Muscle burns fat. More muscle equals more fat being burned. See where I'm going with this? Go start building muscle. Now I'm not suggesting that you go toss 450lbs on the bench press and go to town, but I am saying that you need to build muscle (Think more "300" than "The Incredible Hulk"). You don't need to bulk up to build muscle, in fact unless you specifically try to bulk up, you won't. What you will do is increase the number of calories your body burns while resting. This coupled with a more healthy diet will help increase fat loss exponentially. Let's look a a couple examples. 

*Please note these examples are simply just to show the theory do not use these numbers for your workout planning. 

If you have a BMR of 2,000 (you need consume 2,000 calories a day to maintain your current body weight) and you begin building muscle mass, that number will increase (it takes more energy to maintain muscle, so therefore the caloric need rises). If your new BMR is 2,300 calories and you still only ingest 2,000 calories per day, you are operating at a 300 calorie per day deficit, and hence you are losing weight. Now since we know that there are 3,500 calories per pound of body fat, you are losing approximately 1 pound of fat every 12 days, or 2.5 pounds a month. Again, I can not stress enough these numbers are just to explain the theory behind building muscle as it pertains to fat loss. Just remember the more muscle you build the less you have to restrict your caloric intake to still lose weight, in other words, the more you exercise, the more you can eat and still lose weight, and since restrictive diets absolutely suck, this will make reaching your goals more bearable.

Muscle weighs more than fat. So jumping on that scale everyday and seeing your weight increase is not always a bad thing. Muscle weighs approximately 18% more than fat (please slap anyone that tells you "a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat", I hate so called "experts" who say that). When you are first getting started, it's very likely that you will see a slow, and steady weight gain, this will continue until your body gets "up to speed" so to speak and then the weight loss will speed up drastically.

Make the obvious changes to your diet first. By that I mean cut out the obvious sources of needless and excessive calories. Junk food, fast food, and regular soda is the largest source of needless calories. For example, a medium BigMacâ meal has over 1100 calories. One of those a week is over 1 pound of fat per month that you can cut from your diet. You favorite coffee place is another culprit, while there are no calories in regular plain old coffee, all that milk and sugar adds up quick, to the tune of almost another 1600 calories per week. Over a month thats another 2 pounds. See what I'm getting at here? Cutting out these two areas saves you almost 3 pounds per month, not to mention a fairly decent chunk of change. Cover the basics first and you should begin to see a big improvement.

Get some sleep! Your body needs to rest to regenerate and repair it's self. Experts recommend 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep for maximum benefit. Now this is where you give me all of the reasons why thats just not possible, and how you are good to go with 5 hours a night. Go ahead, I'll wait. Are you done? O.K., please (in my best Sam Jackson voice) allow me to retort. Bullsh*t. While there are exceptions to every rule, you are more than likely not one of them. Let me say this clearly, GET SOME SLEEP! Your body needs it. It not only helps you physically, but will keep you mentally refreshed and ready to go. For those of you who have to be up at 6:00am for work and are wondering if I'm really suggesting that you go to bed at 8pm, you bet I am. Most prime time T.V. sucks now anyway, and for the good stuff, thats why God created TiVo. Bottom line, get some sleep, it's non-negotiable.

Follow these three steps to start with. You will begin to see improvements in anywhere from 3-5 weeks. Remember, regardless of all of the things you have read in these adds, losing weight takes time and effort. It will be hard. It's going to down right suck, and heres the kicker, your body is going to fight back. You're going to crave all manner of junk food and garbage you can think of. You're going to be sore, your going to hurt in places you've never felt before, and you are going to believe that you are unable to go on. Remember, pain is mental. The mind controls the body, not the other way around. When you are on that treadmill or lifting that weight, remember that pain is just weakness leaving the body. Learn the difference between being hurt and being injured (working out will cause you to hurt, dropping a 45lb plate on your foot will cause you to be injured).

Don't give up when you have setbacks, and you WILL have setbacks. You will inevitably cheat on your diet, or skip a day of training. Don't beat yourself up about it, accept it, and move forward. On that same token, if you need to take a day off, go ahead. If you really want to go out for beers and burgers with your friends, go ahead. It's o.k. to treat yourself every once in a while. The key thing is to change your day to day routine and lifestyle, a little regression now and then can be a healthy thing.

Check back here for links to exercises, more in-depth nutrition and training tips, and more of my special brand of motivation.