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Did you know that stress and fatigue can both negatively contribute to your weight loss and fitness goals? That’s right, even while following proper exercise and nutritional strategies, these two components can really hinder your efforts.
Try to get between six to nine hours of QUALITY sleep each night. Sometimes a 30 minute nap in the middle of the day might be enough to recharge your body (be careful though as a nap longer than 30 minutes can be counterproductive).
Find ways to minimize stress. Make time to participate in activities that you enjoy and learn to make the absolute best from each situation.
Train hard, train smart, eat right, and live well.
If you’re like most people, when you need to get a workout in, you want to get in, get it done, and get out. We have so many demands constantly being placed upon us that it can be a real challenge to keep up with everything.
Rather than letting your workouts fall by the wayside though, consider using smart techniques to shorten them up slightly so you can manage to fit them into your busy day.
Here are some quick tricks to start incorporating in.
Add Supersets
The first way to shorten up your workouts is to begin by adding supersets. This is where you pair two exercises back to back with each other. Since you’ll work two muscles in the time it took you to usually only work one, you’ll cut back on the overall workout duration dramatically.
Remember to rest between the supersets for a long enough time that you do recovery however otherwise you could start to find you’re not maintaining the intensity necessary to make progress.
Reduce Your Rest Periods
Second, if you aren’t doing supersets but sticking with your usual straight sets, consider cutting back on the rest periods. You don’t need to omit rest, but if you’re typically using two minutes between sets, one minute may be enough.
In some cases this may mean changing the overall protocol of the program and moving to a slightly higher rep range, lighter weight design, but the change can sometimes do you good.
Just don’t go past the 12 rep range for most exercises as then the productivity of those sets will really drop off unless you’re strictly training for muscular endurance.
Cut Down On Your Sets
If you’re really in a hurry and looking to get in a super quick workout, the method to use is to cut back on your total sets performed. As a general rule you can maintain your muscle mass on half the volume you typically use, so if you normally use four sets for an exercise, you can get away with two for the time being.
Don’t expect to make very large gains using fewer sets, but maintaining is much better than risking losing muscle mass, so will be sufficient for those days when you really just don’t have time.
Use Compound Exercise
Being sure that the vast majority of your exercises are compound in nature is also wise for faster workouts. This allows you to work a number of muscles all at once hence you have to do much less isolation work that really eats up time.
For example, doing a bent over row will work the back, the lats, as well as the biceps. Likewise, an incline bench press will hit the chest muscle, the shoulders, the triceps, and even the biceps to a very small extent.
Compound exercises are a great way to get in a full body workout in just minutes.
Add Interval Training
Lastly, on the cardio side of things, make sure you are using interval cardio training. Nothing beats this method for boosting the metabolic rate and getting the workout done in a hurry. Within twenty five to thirty minutes you can be in and out, all while getting a leg up on overall fat loss.
So don’t let yourself skip a workout again. Instead use these principles to shorten the session so you can find the time to fit it in.
When it comes to cleaning up your diet for fat loss, many people are easily able to spot the obvious. You don’t need a degree in nutrition to realize cookies, cake, chips, pizza, soda, and fast foods are all going to work against your efforts of getting a ripped set of abs.
For the most part people will have no trouble seeing the big offenders in your diet, however eliminating them can be a whole other story for most people.
Despite this fact though, there are many foods that are ‘hidden’ diet offenders that will really wreak havoc if you’re not careful. Many times we completely overlook these foods and then question why we are not losing weight.
It’s only when you can dig deeper and recognize these foods and then take steps to remove them from your diet that you will really be able to see the fat loss results you’re searching for.
Here are some of the worst diet offenders that you may currently not be aware of.
Fruit Juice
The very first diet offender to be aware of is fruit juice. Fruit – should be healthy, right? Wrong. The big problem with fruit is that during the process of juicing you lose much of the fiber that was originally found in the fruit and it contains far more calories total than a piece of fresh fruit would have.
For better fat loss results, stick to the whole fruit. If you’re thirsty, try water with a slice of orange for added flavour instead.
Cereal Bars
Next on the list of diet offenders are cereal bars. These 100-200 calorie bars may seem like a smart, low-fat option for a light breakfast to get your day started off right, but the problem here is that they are virtually devoid of protein, so won’t really stick with you past 9:30.
The carbohydrates found in these cereal bars are also very simple in nature meaning they will be broken down quickly and leave you feeling hungrier than before.
So, focus on a lean source of protein instead. You’ll get far better results in your overall fitness program.
Diet Meal Replacements
Many people who are looking for fat loss results will also make the mistake of thinking that a diet meal replacement shake is a smart move. Again, this just causes problems.
While these typically are lower in calories and often do contain a nice balance of nutrients, the issue is that they don’t fill you up. Within twenty or thirty minutes you’ll be just as hungry as you were before and searching for something else to eat.
Instead, choose a light, solid-food snack. There’s something to be said for the process of chewing in signalling to the body that you are full, so don’t overlook that.
If you must choose a drink to get you through the day, a simple protein powder with a piece of fruit and a handful of nuts would be a far wiser move and is just as quick as a meal replacement shake.
Chicken Salads
Finally, take care when ordering salads. These may also seem healthy and even if you do order the dressing on the side, they can still cause problems. Often added into the salad are croutons, nuts, dried fruit, or other ingredients that pack away too many calories to fit comfortably in your diet.
Even worse is if the chicken is breaded or fried as that will also really contribute to far too many calories to add into your day.
So be on the lookout for these foods and be extra certain that you always aim to avoid them. If you don’t, you can be quite certain that you are going to wind up struggling on your fat loss progress.
One of the biggest detriments to any dieter’s best efforts is the beloved restaurant meal. You’ve been working hard all week, sticking to your meal plan, but then the weekend hits and someone – your spouse, your friend, or your co-workers, decide a meal out is in order.
What used to cause some excitement, now causes quite a stir of anxiety. If you’ve ever had a look at some of the nutrient tables of the foods dished up in a restaurant, you know exactly what kind of trouble you’re in for. Sticking with a lower calorie, weight loss plan can seem like next to impossible in many places, which is why you must plan your strategy carefully.
Here are some quick tips that you should definitely start paying attention to.
Try And Order Raw
One quick trick that is fairly simply to follow to use is to always think ‘raw’. Now, I’m not suggesting you order your steak blue rare, but what I’m suggesting is that you try and order something that doesn’t require a lot of cooking.
A salad is the perfect example. Or, a wrap that easily allows you to request only certain ingredients be included is another good option.
The reason for going raw like this is because it eliminates the chances of loads of butter or oil being added throughout the cooking process. Often this is one of the big factors that makes restaurant meals so disastrous, so if you’re ordering something that doesn’t need to be cooked, you eliminate this problem entirely.
Just watch what you get with the dish – for salads for example you want to avoid a lot of added cheese, croutons, bacon bits, dried fruit, or high volumes of nuts. Limiting these however is much easier than requesting changes to the cooking process, which you’ll never be 100% certain actually took place.
Watch The Sauces
Second, you also must be sure you’re watching the sauces that get added to your meal. This is another very sneaky way that calories enter the picture. Usually creamy sauces will be the biggest culprit, however you should also caution yourself against tomato based sauces as well as sometimes they can have a lot of oil added in.
In order to be safe, stick with the tomato sauce (it’s far safer than a cream based sauce) but ask to have it in limited proportions. This will help to prevent the calories from building and keep everything under control.
Stay Away From Sandwiches
Next, you should also make sure that you’re staying away from sandwiches. These typically tend to be quite bad on the diet because of the amount of bread that’s used. Usually it is very thickly cut slices that are used which really increase the overall calorie value.
If you’re going to order a sandwich, consider removing the top slice of bread to reduce the overall calorie and carbohydrate count. Restaurant sandwiches are also usually over done in fattening condiments, sauces and dressings.
Order Off The Menu
Finally, the last way to control the calorie intake that you’re getting when eating out is to order off the menu. Many people either don’t realize they can do this or shy away from doing it because they are scared to ask.
Don’t be. Almost all restaurants will be able to cook you a simple chicken breast with steamed vegetables (ask for no butter) along with a baked potato and salsa, which makes for a great fat loss meal to have.
Navigating the restaurant menu doesn’t have to be a huge challenge if you remember these tips and do your best to order wisely. The small changes really do make a huge difference in your ability to see progress.
If you’re struggling to lose belly fat, the very first thing you should do is have a very close look at your diet. Far too many people think that losing belly fat is a factor of doing the right stomach exercises, but in reality it’s much more a matter of getting down to a lower body fat level.
You can have the most muscular abs in the world, but if you have a layer of body fat covering those abs, they are going to be pretty difficult to see.
Since abdominal exercises burn very few calories total and you can easily eat over five hundred calories in a minute or two when you choose the wrong food choices, it is diet that must be the focus. Creating a calorie deficit at the end of the day is what will determine whether or not you gain or lose body fat, so by getting your food choices right, you take one large step in the right direction.
Below you’ll find the top rated foods for fast belly fat loss. Be sure you’re including these in your plan regularly.
White Fish
The first food to include is white fish. White fish not only is an excellent source of high-quality protein, but it’s incredibly low in calories as well. With one piece often offering only one hundred calories, it’s the perfect option for the dieter serious about getting a six pack.
Just watch the sauces or butter that often accompanies prepared fish as that will be what packs on far more calories than you require.
Almonds
Next, also make sure you’re adding almonds to your diet. Now, many dieters do have a negative association with nuts because they are very high in calories, but if you keep portion sizes modest, they definitely can be added.
What’s great about nuts is that they contain high amounts of healthy fat which help to keep hunger levels under control. As you probably already know, when you get hungry on a diet, that’s when real trouble sets in. Doing whatever you can to control this hunger then is a very good thing.
Broccoli
Third, broccoli is one of the best vegetables to eat while aiming for a six pack. It’s packed with antioxidants, low in calories, and high in fiber – all things the dieter should look for. Broccoli also goes great with so many dishes from stir-fries to soups, to just eaten raw with a small amount of low-fat dip.
Make use of this vegetable as often as possible with your meals to fill yourself up and promote good health.
Broth-Based Soups
Consuming a broth-based soup that contains plenty of vegetables is another great way to work towards the goal of fat loss. Soups contain few calories and the hot liquid will sit in your stomach and create the sensation of being full.
If you can start your meal off with a soup, you’ll very likely take in fewer calories total over the course of the meal.
Oatmeal
Finally, for your carbohydrate source, oatmeal is a great option to focus on. It also contains plenty of fiber and is virtually sugar free, which is very important when choosing a cereal. Because it’s cooked with plenty of water it also is very high in total volume, helping to increase the satiety you feel.
If you can start making the right food choices more and more often with your diet plan, you’ll find you have to worry less about total calorie intake since it will just take care of itself. The key is mastering proper portion control and food selection – then you’re well on your way to success.
