One such aspect that is often ignored is the easy act of getting additional sleep.

Does getting additional sleep include an result in how to burn fat off?

Even though sleeping seems to be one of the laziest things you would do in a day, lack of sleep you impacts far more than you imagine. Still don’t trust me? Well, you have to realize that even slight sleep deprivation will unfavorably influence your efforts at the fitness center. A reduced intensity level will reduce the efficiency of your weight exercise and cardio routines.

Sleep lack impedes the body’s aptitude to repair muscles after weight training. Of course, if you’ve already learned a little about how to burn fat, you’ve maybe also learned that augmented muscle mass will accelerate your metabolism.

Moreover, sleep lack also causes the release of grehlin, a hormone which makes you feel hungrier. This can make it very tricku to go on with your diet because your sweet cravings as well as craving for other unhealthful snacks increase.

If you sleep less, you also consume more calories; this, because you spend more time awake. Almost no one opts for a healthful snack when they’re awake at night. Regardless of your understanding of how to burn fat, you have to know that consuming only a few hundred excess calories a day can totally ruin your efforts.

Over and above, sleep lack hinders the body’s synthesis of leptin. Leptin aids in controlling hunger; it is a hormone in the mind. You’ll end up consuming more calories and spending more time at the fitness center trying to figure out how to burn fat off because you overate once more; this is what happens when levels of leptin in the body are low.

And there’s more….

Sleep lack increases levels of cortisol in the body. Cortisol, a hormone produced by our body, is to a great extent responsible for weight gain, mainly around your waistline. If the levels of cortisol in your body are high, you’ll be losing muscle and storing more fat. I’m sure you know that this is the most horrible possible combination for you, even if you don’t know much about how to burn fat off.

While on the subject of hormones, you have to know that sleep lack also lowers growth hormone and testosterone levels in your body. The fact is that these two hormones in the body are the most effective fat-burning substances.

So how much you have to be sleeping if you want to learn how to burn fat off and modify your body’s composition?

Most experts support receiving at least 7 to 8 hours of excellence sleep each night. Clearly, after reading this article, you have to know why those who think that four to five hours of sleep is enough are negatively affecting their weight loss goals.

To learn much more about fatburn and weightloss CLICK HERE!.

For the first 15 minutes of using the machine, your body is basically warming up and not a lot of calories are being burnt. Because the leg muscles are great, they require a significant amount of blood flow in order to start burning fat.

Most people are excited to complete the first 15 minutes of a treadmill exercises, but this should be just the start. Everything after 15 minutes is where the fat burning act really starts to begin.

The greatest way to get the most out of any treadmill exercises is to actually warm your legs up just before you start by using weights. Doing this will reduce the time it takes for your body to warm up and start burning fat. Here are a couple of exercises you can do for around 15 minutes with weights before getting on the treadmill.

Squats – Using a smith machine or squat bar is a great way to warm up those muscles in your legs. Doing sets of 10 repetitions with about 90 seconds of break in between sets will warm up your muscles effectively and quickly.

If you don’t have any free weights or equipment, you can just perform normal squats which are still fine, however, you should increase your repetitions per set to around 20.

Lunges – These might seem a little awkward, but they are exceptional as well for arming up those leg muscles.

To perform a lunge, you simply put one foot in front of the other while bending the knee of the back leg to touch the floor, you then stand up straight and bring your front leg back to normal position and do it again. These again, can be performed with free weights or with no weights.

After you have warmed up those leg muscles and get on that treadmill, each minute will be burning fat. Losing weight is all about burning body fat so these easy replacement exercises will assist you to get much more weight loss from the same amount of time.

Also, you should keep in mind to modify your treadmill practice around from time to time specially if your goal is weight loss. If you can, use a treadmill that has the alternative of inclining and declining so you can target different muscle groups of the legs.

If you enjoy to run, you should try walking, but at a brisk pace for longer periods. This is to bring down the strain put on the knees.

Keep in mind, losing weight comes down to burning calories, so don’t forget to warm up those legs before you set foot on the treadmill so that you burn fat from the very first step and not the 500th.

The solution to permanent weight loss is to consume the right kinds of foods at each meal to preserve your lean muscle mass and to increase the fat burning rate by building new muscle to speed up your metabolism. We recommend using the new fail-proof diet from The Weight Loss Grail.

This is a brand new type of diet never seen before that will never leave you feeling hungry or ask you to give up any of your favorite foods.

You can begin this fantastic new diet right here:

The Weight Loss Grail: Lose 28 lbs. Every 28 days!

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Metabolism and Weight Loss – What You Need to Know
Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN
www.myFitterU.com

Your metabolism is important in the weight loss equation because it represents 60-75% of your total caloric expenditure each and every day. Metabolism is proportional to your fat-free mass (ie. muscle), and after age 20 it decreases by about 2-3% per decade. In general, women tend to have a lower metabolism due to lower fat-free mass.

Your resting metabolism is the rate of energy expenditure that your body goes through at rest. It is the number of calories your body needs to survive if all you did was lie in bed.

For each 1% increase in body fatness, your metabolism decreases about 0.01 calories/minute. Thus, simply by having more fat on your body decreases your basal metabolic rate. Conversely, doing things that will burn fat and promote muscle development will increase your metabolism.

While this change may seem like no big deal, it is! This small difference can become much more meaningful if you progressively pack on weight. For example, a 5% increase in body fat at the same body weight results in a difference of 0.05 calories/minute, which is equal to 72 calories/day.

Since 3500 calories equals 1 lb of fat, in our example, it would take 48 days to add on one extra pound of fat (everything being equal). That might not seem like much but over the course of 1 year that would be an extra 7 lbs of fat just because of an initial 5% body fat difference. But it would actually be more than 7 lbs since your body fat would increase as you continued to pack on the weight.

METABOLISM IS ALSO INFLUENCED BY…

Fat-free mass is not the only factor influencing your metabolism. Since the early 1900s researchers have shown that prolonged dieting is associated with a significant decrease in metabolic rate (as much as 20% in some cases). For example, the famous Minnesota Starvation Experiment where caloric intake was restricted by 25% over the course of 24-weeks revealed that, per kg of bodyweight, metabolic rate is reduced on a semi-starved diet. The researchers also showed that T3 (one of the thyroid hormones) and sympathetic nervous system activity decreased as well.

The latter two findings are rather significant considering that thyroid is the master gland regulating your body’s metabolism. A decrease in its function makes it more difficult to lose weight. I have seen this in practice having worked with hundreds of men and women who suffer from an underactive thyroid who at the same time, have had a very tough time losing weight.

The sympathetic nervous system plays a pivotal role in the body’s ability to mobilize and burn fat. Since it stimulates the release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands, a hormone that breaks down fat, any interruption to its functioning will also impair fat burning.

What these “starvation” studies reveal is that during prolonged periods of low caloric intake, the energy production of the tissues decreases in an attempt to adapt to the lower caloric intake and reduce the rate of weight loss. It’s simply a survival mechanism. Obviously, this is an appropriate adaptation in periods of starvation, but it is counterproductive if your goal is to lose weight fast and for good.

IS YOUR METABOLISM DOOMED?

Your metabolism is also responsive to periods of over-feeding. In one dieting experiment, when the subjects were allowed a day of “free eating”, their metabolism was elevated on the following day. Further, in long-term (14-20 days) overfeeding to cause obesity, increases in metabolic rate have been recorded.

This would seem counter-intuitive. After all, if your metabolic rate increases wouldn’t it help you lose weight? In most cases, yes, but not if eating to a point of creating a dramatic positive energy balance.

In essence, during the dynamic phase of weight gain (going from a lower to higher weight), more calories are required per kg of body to maintain the weight gain than maintain normal body weight. This is obvious and it’s also one of the reasons why you may feel hungrier when you are more active.

DOES EXERCISE IMPROVE METABOLISM?

Studies have shown that trained individuals have a higher metabolic rate than untrained individuals – but only when they did high intensity workouts and consumed sufficient calories to maintain energy balance. This suggests that the higher metabolic rate in trained individuals is not due to chronic adaptations associated with training, but more to do with the acute energy flux associated with the most recent workouts and dietary choices.

There is no doubt that your metabolic rate is elevated following exercise. The questions relate to how much and how long it is elevated, and to what extent it contributes to total daily energy expenditure.

It may be said, in the long run, daily exercise is needed to maintain an elevated metabolism. However, it should be remembered that what you do today will potentially have a greater “short term” impact on your metabolism than your combined workout efforts over the past few years. Just another reason why working out at least every other day is imperative for maintaining an elevated metabolism and helping you lose weight and stay lean!

References:

Benedict, F. et al. (1919). Human Vitality and Efficiency Under Prolonged Restricted Diet. Washington, DC. The Carnegie Institute of Washington.

Keys, A. et al. (1950). The Biology of Human Starvation. Volume 1. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press.

About the Author

Yuri Elkaim is a world-renowned fitness, nutrition, and weight loss expert. He is the creator Fitter U and Treadmill Trainer, author of Eating for Energy, and the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for men’s soccer program at the University of Toronto. His trademarked 12-week Fitter U iPod workout program has been helping thousands of people around the world get in shape and lose weight fast without the cost and inconvenience of hiring a trainer. Go to www.myFitterU.com now to get your FREE Fitter U workout and “How to Get Fit and Lose Weight Fast” report!

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Burn More Calories in Less Time
Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN
www.myFitterU.com

In my view, intensity is the most critical aspect of any exercise regime and can mean the difference between someone who reaches their goals and someone who doesn’t. Increasing your workout’s intensity will stimulate your body to burn more calories and induce a greater cardiovascular response. It will also allow you to have a more time efficient workout.

If you are looking to burn fat and become more toned, then increasing your exercise intensity is critical. Many people have the misconception that if you workout at a higher intensity you will no longer be burning fat since you will be in your “cardio zone”. Whereas, if you keep your intensity low for a longer duration you will burn more fat since you will be in your “fat burning zone”.

Let me clarify this for you once and for all. By training at a low intensity (<70% max) it is true that you use fat as your predominant source of fuel. While exercising at a higher intensity (>75% max) your main fuel source is carbohydrate but you will ultimately burn more calories. And since 1 pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories, the ultimate goal is to burn as many calories as possible to create a negative energy balance!

One of the best ways to achieve this intensity is through the use of full-body exercises (circuit training set up) in conjunction with interval training. The benefit of full body exercises is that they utilize more muscle in any given movement – thus, you burn more calories. The inherent intensity of the workout also means that each exercise becomes more challenging as your heart rate is sustained at a much higher level as a result of not giving yourself enough rest between exercises.

Here are a couple of benefits to following an exercise program combining circuit training and interval training:

1. Intervals and circuits vastly reduce boredom. Traditional steady state cardio training and/or weight lifting can become quite boring. Interval training and circuit training offer more variety and excitement to your workouts.

2. Interval training increases post-exercise energy expenditure (calories burned following exercise) more than steady-state exercise, which means that more fat is burned. After intense exercise, the body needs extra calories as it works to repair muscles, replace energy stores (i.e. carbohydrate) and restore the body to its normal state (e.g. reduce heart rate).

As this can take many hours, you will keep on burning more calories long after the workout is over. In fact, research shows that metabolic rate is higher for several hours following interval training compared to steady state exercise.

3. Interval training burns more calories. As an example, 30 minutes on an Elliptical machine using a steady state program will burn roughly 292 calories, whereas 30 minutes of intervals will burn approximately 584 calories!

Here is a sample circuit traing workout that will leave you huffing and puffing:

WARM-UP – bike, treadmill, elliptical, rower + dynamic stretching (5-10 min)

CIRCUIT (45 seconds for each exercise, with 15 seconds rest between exercises :: 5-7 min to complete 1 set)

Lunge walks with lateral raises

Plank (on stability ball)

Squats with medicine ball shoulder press

Push-ups

Side Bridges

Reverse Pull-ups

Burpies

INTERVAL TRAINING (cardio machine)

20 sec @ 100% : 40 sec @ 70% x 5 = 5 min

Repeat Circuit and Interval 3 times

Total Workout Time: 45 – 50 min

Do this workout 4 times over the next 2 weeks and watch the difference intensity brings to your workouts – and your results!

About the Author

Yuri Elkaim is a world-renowned fitness, nutrition, and weight loss expert. He is the creator Fitter U and Treadmill Trainer, author of Eating for Energy, and the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for men’s soccer program at the University of Toronto. His trademarked 12-week Fitter U iPod workout program has been helping thousands of people around the world get in shape and lose weight fast without the cost and inconvenience of hiring a trainer. Go to www.myFitterU.com now to get your FREE Fitter U workout and “How to Get Fit and Lose Weight Fast” report!

So do low-fat foods equal greater weight loss? The answer you will find, is not so simple as you are about to find out.

Contrary to popular belief, substituting an equal amount of fat calories for carb calories does not always lead to a loss of weight. Most of the time, the food manufacturers don’t tell you, that although their product may contain little to no fat, they do contain a high amount of sugars (carbs).

Although a gram of fat really includes more calories than a gram of carbohydrates, if you eat enough carbs then you are still going to put on weight or have trouble losing it.

It has been shown that a person’s perception of what they think is a regular portion of food, can sometimes be skewed when they are given low-fat alternatives. People tend to feel less guilty when they eat theses foods and so they are more likely to overindulge and overeat.

Fat has been made the bad guy when it comes to weight loss and yet, there has been now for a while strong evidence to suggest that the dangers of dietary fat may have been greatly exaggerated.

The evidence suggests the opposite, that such diets are unhealthy. They can raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer as well as certain psychological disorders such as depression and schizophrenia.

A recent major study found out , that low fat diets didn’t protect women against breast cancer, strokes, colon cancer or heart attacks which contradicts what was once promoted as the cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle.

According to Jacques Rossouw, from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute that provided the funds for the study said, “Based on our findings, we cannot recommend that most women should follow a low-fat diet.”

Believe it or not, some fats are healthy and essential for normal health. They are essential for things like protecting the nerves and internal organs from damage, brain, lung function, eye and important immune system functions

Some essential fatty acids are also essential for the production of certain hormones in the body. Some nutritionists recommend that people who have eaten low fat diets for many weeks or longer without any weight loss get tested for EFA deficiencies and they should start eating certain foods to correct them if present.

The solution for permanent weight loss is to not only consume enough fat calories but to consume the right kinds of fat. We recommend using the new fail-proof diet from The Weight Loss Grail.

This is a brand new type of diet never seen before that will never leave you feeling hungry or ask you to give up any of your favorite foods.

You can begin this fantastic new diet right here:

The Weight Loss Grail: Lose 28 lbs. Every 28 days!

Normally the breakfast is small and light, the lunch is mid sized and the dinner is the largest of the three meals. Most of the people do not realize, that this way of eating is not the best if you are trying to lose excess body weight.

When we wake up, we are in negative calorie territory. There has been many hours of fasting, that’s why our first meal of the day is called breakfast.

Breakfast is the meal that has the longest amount of active hours to be used as fuel rather than for fat storage on the body. Unfortunately it is the smallest meal for the most people with a busy lifestyle. Dinner is normally the largest meal of the day, because we have more time to sit down and enjoy the meal.

On the downside, our dinners are the meals that end up requiring the most physical activity to burn off, but is placed towards the end of each day when our bodies are least active. So in order to lose more weight, we need to flip this meal programming and eat more sensibly.

To flip meals, you’ll need to begin to prepare and eat the largest meal for breakfast. This meal should contain the most calories. As an example, let’s say your on a diet that consist of consuming 1500 Calories each day.

Your Breakfast can account for around 600 of the total calories. The remaining 900 calories can be used for the remaining two meals and some snacks.

Your lunch would be medium sized and could contain around 400 calories. It’s the last meal of the day where big difference occurs.

For dinner, you should consume a meal of only around 300 calories. This usually would be the same amount of calories in a standard fast breakfast. You see, the day has been completely flipped.

Now we eat the amount of calories for breakfast, that we used to eat before for dinner and vice-versa. The remaining 200 calories can be used for snacking three times during the day.

This method of weightloss is very effective because your calorie requirement is split up into six meals. The largest meal (breakfast) you eat has the longest time to get used up as energy and the smallest ends up requiring the least activity to burn.

There are no overall changes in the food intake, simply a reversal of breakfast and dinner.

The change in your life that will lead to prolonged weight loss will require a change in your thoughts, rather than a change to the foods you eat.

By eating the largest amount of calories at the first meal and eating as many as six meals daily, your body will work more efficiently to burn off all those eaten calories.

The solution for permanent weight loss is to consume the right types of foods with each meal while also increasing the amount of meals you eat each day to speed up your metabolism. We recommend using the new fail-proof diet from The Weight Loss Grail.
This is a brand new type of diet never seen before that will never leave you feeling hungry or ask you to give up any of your favorite foods.

You can begin this fantastic new diet right here:

The Weight Loss Grail: Lose 28 lbs. Every 28 days!

If you ever find yourself at a loss for workout ideas, don’t feel like using weights or machines, or traveling, or looking for some great workouts to enjoy at home then you’ll be happy to know that you’ve already got everything you need.

What I mean is that by simply using your bodyweight you can enjoy incredible workouts that will not only help you burn fat but sculpt and tone your body as well.

Bodyweight workouts are not only great for beginners – they can even by used by the fittest people. To this day, some of my most challenging and calorie-crunching workouts revolve around nothing more than push-up and pull-up variations, some full body cardio movements, and some great core and abdominal exercises.

I’d like to share one such workout with you. So if you’re sick and tired of going to the gym and would like to try something new and fresh at home (or even while you travel) then give this bodyweight workout a shot. Believe me, it might be tougher than it looks so pace yourself.

Please note that this workout is designed for beginners so stay tuned for more advanced variations.

Bodyweight Workout Structure:

After your warm-up you will be performing a 6 exercise bodyweight circuit where you will perform as many reps as possible (where applicable) in 30 seconds. You will then rest 30 seconds before moving onto the next exercise. Repeat this circuit 2-3 times.

WARM-UP – Jogging on spot, jumping jacks (3-5 minutes)

CIRCUIT WORKOUT (30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest)

1. Y Squats

2. Plank

3. Standing Lunges

4. Side Plank

5. Hip Bridge with Leg Extension

6. Push-ups

Enjoy!

About the Author

Yuri Elkaim is a world-renowned fitness, nutrition, and weight loss expert. He is the creator Fitter U and Treadmill Trainer, author of Eating for Energy, and the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for men’s soccer program at the University of Toronto. His trademarked 12-week Fitter U iPod workout program has been helping thousands of people around the world get in shape and lose weight fast without the cost and inconvenience of hiring a trainer. Go to www.myFitterU.com now to get your FREE Fitter U workout and “How to Get Fit and Lose Weight Fast” report!