Last week we discussed staying on track, which is very important in keeping fit. Fitness transcends the New Year’s resolution promise of getting in shape.
You have now started working out at home or at the gym, cleaned up your diet and you are now on a caloric deficit. This means no more late night binge eating or drinking and your sleeping hours would have increased. This is your year.
A plethora of advice is readily available from your trainer, workout partner or online. However, quite often people treat fat loss as a sprint and not a marathon and panic and make impulsive decisions rather than thinking long term and strategically. Disappointment and frustration is the result and worst of all having to start from scratch the next time around.
Not this year.
Keeping fit is not a race for the swift but one of endurance, which is why I encouraged you last week to do small things, just to keep it going.
This has to become your lifestyle.
Here are three simple tweaks to your current training, supplementation and nutrition that can make a difference in your fat loss results.
Carb cycling: Many times newbies want to see results as fast as possible and just slash their caloric intake. They feel hungry all day, they grow irritable and energy levels plummet. Not only is it not sustainable but it’s a recipe for disaster and also ineffective. There is a better way.
The carb cycling strategy alternates high and low carb days. This stimulates the body’s production of the fat burning hormone leptin. It’s mentally rewarding and gives you a higher carb day to look forward to which helps you to stick with your plan. Diets of cycling carbs are common among fitness athletes and there is scientific research to support this method.
Researchers at the Genesis Prevention Centre at University Hospital in South Manchester, England found that women who followed a very low carb diet on two consecutive days during the week and ate a Mediterranean-type diet the rest of the week, lost an average of 14 pounds over six months. On the other hand, women on a 1,500 calorie restricted diet lost 12 pounds in that time. Although not a significant difference in weight loss, carb cycling may be an attractive alternative to those who struggle to eat a restricted calorie diet day in and day out.
Supplements: Anytime you make fat loss your goal, you risk losing muscle tissue along with the soft stuff. A healthy protein intake along with whey protein/whey isolates supplements and supplementing with branch chain amino acids (BCAAS) can both help you to preserve your lean muscle mass. BCAAS can also aid in recovery between your high intensity workouts.
Make cardio fun: Everyone hates the torture of cardio. Whether it’s pedalling on a stationary bike, walking on the treadmill like a zombie or running upstairs, cardio is the most gruelling and annoying part of one’s workout.
How can you make cardio fun?
The great outdoors: Get out of the house or the gym and enjoy the great outdoors. Whether you go to the National Park or any similar space, or just make do with spaces in your neighbourhood, biking, roller blading, skipping, walking the dog or playing a game of tennis, football, cricket or basketball are great, fun ways of fat torching cardio.
Break out the music: Put together a playlist that will inspire you to keep going. You can also get creative. If there is a particular model, celebrity, bodybuilder or even pictures of yourself when you were in great shape, have them on your screen to inspire you when you want to quit.
Do more than one machine: If you are the type of person who gets bored easily, the treadmill at the gym will not cut it. Diversify. After 10 minutes, go straight to the bike for 10 more minutes and then 10 minutes later hit the elliptical rider. As long as you are doing consistent cardio without stopping for 30 minutes minimum, you will be hitting your goals without boredom.
