What A Fat Loss Day Looks Like

If you are interested in healthy, permanent fat loss, every day can be a fat loss day, until you lose all the weight you want to lose. Here is how such a day looks, starring you.

The day starts out the night before. You have gotten a good sleep. You have not eaten an evening meal or snacked. More on these later.

You get up early. Where I live in Hawaii average folks get up around 5:30 to 6:00 a.m. I get up between 4 and 4:30, because I want nothing to do with average. I wake up feeling ferociously fantastic. For that I credit my plant-based diet of whole, fresh, natural foods and my exercise program.

You drink some water upon arising. Hot, warm or room temperature. There was a time when I could not drink water in the morning for all the money in the world, so I know this can be a challenge. I was able to change and so can you if you need to.

I like to exercise on an empty stomach, so I start my day with exercise. Whether you like to eat before or after exercising is up to you, but whichever you choose, it is important for fat loss to get exercise in the morning. Exercising in the morning charges up our metabolism from the start of the day. This keeps it elevated throughout the day, so we are burning calories even when we are not exercising. If we wait until the afternoon or later to exercise, our metabolism tapers off sooner and we lose the benefit of burning extra calories.

So you start your day hungry, ready for a substantial, nutritious breakfast, ideally your main meal of the day.
A whole grain, multi-grain cereal, hot or cold, with fresh fruit and almond, rice or soymilk is a good choice. My favorite is old-fashioned oats, to which I add chopped dates, almonds, walnuts, raisins, chopped apple. It cooks up quickly. I sometimes add a banana smoothie mixture in place of milk. I never get tired of this dish. It is made up of entirely whole foods; it is nutrient dense, with plenty of protein, fat and carbohydrates, plus fiber. It really sticks to the ribs.

If you say you not have time for such a meal or such a set up, then consider getting up a half hour earlier and making time for it. Or use a crock-pot to cook your healthy cereal overnight. It is ready to eat when you are. Making breakfast the main meal of the day is that important.

You do not snack between meals. You let a minimum of four hours pass before eating after breakfast, and five is better. If you have eaten the kind of breakfast I advise, you will not get hungry for at least four or five hours.

If, during your transition period of incorporating this into your normal routine, you get hungry between meals, drink water. If water will not do and you really need something to eat between meals, make it fresh fruit, a banana, apple slices, an orange, etc. In any event, pure, filtered water is now your main beverage.

Relieve stress and tension throughout the day, do not let these build up to boiling points. Do deep breathing, stretching, take mini breaks. Shake your body up. A short walk can do wonders. Stress is a major cause of overweight; so do not discount blowing off steam as an important part of your day.

Lunch or your afternoon meal should be another substantial meal, emphasizing foods as grown: fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, legumes, complex carbohydrates. Real food not refined junk. Make lunch a real meal, not a rushed, hectic, on-the-move gut bomb.

Here is the biggie: until you lose all the fat you want to lose, eliminate the evening meal. You can do this easily. And nighttime snacks. You can and will get used to these habits, and you will really watch the pounds come off when you do. The health benefits of fasting during the evening hours are irrefutable. They include enhanced production of melatonin, which helps regulate the sleep cycle.

To bed: you get just enough sleep, but not too much. For most people, the ideal is between 6 and 9 hours. Getting the right amount of sleep is important for fat loss. You wake up rested, feeling ferociously fantastic, hungry for a nutritious breakfast, before or after exercise, and ready for another great day.

Jerome Kellner is a fat loss and fitness professional and author of The Maui Diet. Find out more about fat loss the easy, healthy way, by eating a plant-based diet of whole, natural foods at http://www.themauidiet.com.

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