Burn More Fat: 10 Surefire Steps

From eDiets.com:

(By Raphael Calzadilla, BA, CPT, ACE)

It came in like an explosion this past week. Email after email flooded my inbox -- most asking the same question.

The issue? How to reduce body fat by counting the number of calories burned during a workout.

After 13 years of training a variety of clients and after years of competitive bodybuilding, I’m here to proclaim that counting calories from exercise is a trap. It’s the most ineffective method to use when attempting to lower body fat.

I’m not suggesting it won’t work for awhile, but of all the methods available -- this is absolutely the least efficient way to go about it.

For example, a person might decide to lose some body fat by deciding to burn 300 calories per day on the treadmill. They implement this plan for two weeks and are amazed when the scale isn’t budging. So what happened?

There are several answers. The first is that their total caloric intake may still be too high. They just assumed a slight energy expenditure would take care of it.

What if the calories are low and they still aren’t losing? A variety of things could be happening. They may have lowered the calories too much and the body actually needs more food in order to burn body fat. Yes, that is absolutely a possibility. It’s also possible their carbohydrate ratios are much too high (75-80 percent) and they continue to spike blood sugar, which can prevent body fat loss. It’s also possible that fat intake is too low or too high based on their unique genetic predisposition to lose fat.

So, I know what you’re thinking, "OK, Raphael, if counting calories burned from exercise isn’t the best method, then how do I do it? How do I get rid of this Jell-O?"

Here’s how it’s done:

1. Determine a starting baseline of calories as well as grams of protein, carbohydrates and fats. The total calories should have you in a slight caloric deficit (slightly less than maintenance) and be spread over three meals and two to three snacks through the day. You may think it’s a hassle to calculate, but who says you have to? eDiets does that all the homework for you with our multitude of nutrition plans.

2. Work out a number of days per week that’s realistic for you. It doesn’t matter if it’s three, four or five. Just be consistent with it and try to keep it to no more than one hour.

3. For 14 days, don’t change any of the parameters of the diet or workout. For example, don’t just haphazardly eat less on a particular day or increase your exercise time on another day. Remember, the goal is to find out what regimen will get you to lose fat. Consider it a science experiment that must be approached with small changes.

4. After 14 days, you should have a scale weight loss of one to two pounds. I prefer body composition testing (also called body fat testing), but for those who insist on using the scale as a gauge, the one to two pounds after 14 days will be your goal.

5. If you have lost one to two pounds after 14 days, do nothing. The program is working.

6. If the scale hasn’t budged, then reduce calories by 150. No more than that. In most cases, we’re just on the brink of losing. Instead of a major drop in calories, you’ll approach it slowly with the goal of finding the precise formula.

7. eDiets nutrition support will assist you when you need to make any type of caloric change. So you’re not alone in this process.

8. The 150-calorie reduction should be used for seven to eight days. That will normally do the trick.

9. If after seven to eight days you still aren’t losing, then drop 50 additional calories and increase cardiovascular exercise by 10 minutes per session.

10. Chances are one of the above will work for you, but you need to be patient and to experiment slowly. Patience will be your friend in this process.

The method above may seem cumbersome, but I assure you it’s not -- particularly if you already have the eDiets nutrition program at your disposal. The upfront work has already been done.

After your fat loss begins to accelerate, you can then build in one to two treat meals or snacks during the week. Your metabolism will be revved at this point, so no harm will be done. After all, you still want to enjoy some of those great foods out there.

Now you have the formula. So what are you waiting for?

Learn more at eDiets.com...