The 5 easiest ways to lose bodyfat (without starving yourself)
I don’t know about you but I love food. Throw me a family bag of crisps and I am a happy Lynne. Pour me a wine and that’s me set.
Unfortunately these two things don’t really help me 1. Be healthy 2. Get leaner.
And that bloody sucks!
I will never be one of ‘those’ women who rave about their ‘delicious’ raw, vegan, sugar/fat/carb free lifestyle.
So here we are.
Likes: High calorie, delicious food.
Likes: Lifting weights.
Likes: Being healthy.
Likes: Being able to fit into my clothes.
Dislikes: Ridiculous diets.
Dislikes: Marketers pushing the next diet craze.
Dislikes: Starving myself.
Dislikes: Looking at food as good or bad (even kale must be bad for you if you eat too much of it).
So how can we lose body fat without starving ourselves?
Start (or ramp up) Strength Training
You have to be lifting weights. In order for your body to burn more body fat, you need to increase your muscle mass and the only way to build lean muscle mass is to overload those muscles (lift heavy things more often).
The coolest thing is that now women are more educated about weight training and strong is the new skinny, whoop whoop!. We want to look toned (not an actual thing but we can go into that on another blog), we want to be capable and confident and we can get ALL of that from strength training.
How often should you do it?
If you are completely new to lifting tin then start with 1-2 times a week, if this is not your first rodeo then 3-4 sessions a week will bring those body composition gains you are chasing.
2. Look at your EXTRA calories (and where they come from)
So I did an overhaul of my nutrition recently. I’m one of those people who look like I lift weights but also look like I don’t say no to donuts, which is true. I have a great relationship with food, sometimes a bit too good but the issue I have is I mindlessly snack.
As a Mamma I’m sorting breakfasts, lunches and dinners and there will be times that I don’t even realize I’ve snacked on some cheese, crackers, peanuts, whatever it is BEFORE I sit down to eat myself.
I discovered how much EXTRA calories were going into my mouth, not ideal Neil. I wasn’t putting on BF, but I damn sure wasn’t losing any either.
Could you pinpoint where your EXTRA calories are coming from?
Having just come out of the silly season another one of my extras was ALCOHOL, god damn it! Sitting in the sun having wine is just the bee's knees but we all know it’s not good for us. I know I said it, I addressed the elephant in the room, eeeeekkkkkkkk!
If you want to get leaner without starving yourself…
If you want to feel more energetic…
Wake up easier…
Have your skin glowing…
Then you need to cut down or cut out the booze. Now I love my wine (we’re not talking a bottle, we’re talking a glass or two) but I get up VERY early in the morning, I try to pack in A LOT to my days. My love of a glass of wine has to be seriously looked at if I want to achieve the goals I want and just get the most out of each day.
So be honest with yourself. Where do your EXTRA calories come from? If you want to lose Body Fat then get rid of the EXTRAS.
3. Do a bit of cardio
Hahahaha I love this one as many of you know I’m not a massive cardio lover. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, I just know it’s not the best way to get leaner, but it is very good for keeping us healthy. We don’t want to do cardio to lose weight, we want to do it to be healthy and be capable. You might think you're losing ‘weight’ but you’ll lose muscle too and we can’t afford to lose muscle.
Do you want to be Skinny/Fat? Because that is what will happen if you try to be as light as you can just by doing cardio.
Muscle is more important but we can assist our body fat loss goals (and your overall cardiovascular health) by adding cardio into our week, just a wee boost.
How often?
2 x week for 45-60 mins.
4. Eat more protein
Including more protein-rich foods in your diet is an effective way to reduce your appetite and burn more fat, build your meal around your protein choice.
Upping your protein intake may also increase feelings of fullness, decrease appetite and reduce calorie intake to aid in weight loss.
Before you all rush out to the supplement store I would suggest trying to get your protein sources from your diet. The more nutritious sources of energy you feed your body with, the more it will want to use them – meaning your training will improve, you’ll burn more calories and build more muscle, and you’ll lose more body fat, BONUS!
Don’t know where to start?
Talk to a qualified nutritionist to find out how much protein you should be eating for what you want to achieve.
Jenny Northern is my go to for sensible, easy to follow advice and guidance.
5. Get some HIIT into your life
Yes it’s time to do some HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). You know the REALLY huffy-puffy stuff!
There are many ways of doing it but the easiest way is you get someone to yell at you to do it (you know i’m right).
Just book into a class and get your sweat on (check out BODYFIX awesome classes here). You can also incorporate HIIT at the end of your strength sessions, Go hard for 60 secs, recovery for 60 secs and repeat 5 times. Just find out what works for you and do it! Get in and get that heart rate pumping two or three times a week!
Bursts of HIIT cardio will spike your heart rate and lead to the afterburn effect, where your body will continue to burn calories even after the workout is finished.
So there we have it, your 5 ways to lose body fat without starving yourself.
Your overview:
Strength train 3-4 x week (2 x week if you’re a beginner)
Cardio 2 x week (45-60 mins)
Get rid of your EXTRA calories (you know where they are)
Eat more protein (talk to a Qualified Nutritionist)
HIIT train 2-3 x week (you can tag it onto your strength sessions, it doesn’t take long)
If you follow these tips you will be on your way to getting stronger, leaner and loving life!
Do you want to become a stronger, leaner, more energized version of yourself? It’s up to you but there is always help there if you need it.
Lynne x
