Tips on Losing Weight

If you want to lose fat and gain muscle you need to start weight lifting and doing regular cardio exercise. Ideally you should do three alternate days of cardio, and 3 alternate days of weight lifting. An ideal cardio exercise is jogging, and a plan like Couch to 5k is excellent to build up endurance. With weight lifting it depends whether or not you have access to a gym. If you don't have gym access read Brain over Brawn, a free ebook, which contains lot's of useful information about dieting and weight loss. I highly recommend you read it regardless of your plans, as it will educate you on what is required to lose weight.

Next you should get your diet in order. To lose weight safely you should aim to have a total intake of 1750-2000 calories a day. This includes the food you eat as well as the exercises you do, so if you eat 2500 calories and do 500 calories worth of jogging your daily total will be 2000. You should aim for a split of around 40% carbs, 40% protein, and 20% fat, and if you need to lower any other those lower carbs before anything else. You can record your food intake and exercise. In addition to your food intake you should aim to drink around 8 pints of water a day to encourage weight loss.

If you are weight lifting you need at least 1g of protein per lb of body weight. If you have trouble reaching this amount from food I suggest you buy whey protein.

Some Useful Tips Not to be Forgotten

1. Do NOT starve yourself, do NOT binge eat.

2. Be as active as you can; nothing to do for 10 minutes? Knock out 10 push-ups.

3. Eat some spicy foods; take a decent amount of vitamin C, and drink between a half-gallon and a whole gallon of WATER a day. Avoid anything deep-fried, white bread, sprinkles, and any refined sugar.

4. No more soda. Ever.

5. If you do drink coffee, drink it black.

6. Do at least 35 minutes of cardio straight at least once a day, at least three times a week, more if you are not trying to put on muscle.

7. Do a large amount of full body exercises whenever possible (Jumping Jacks, Pull-ups, Chin ups, dips, squats, hanging leg raises, hanging knee raises, back raises, glute ham raises, burpees)

8. Get at least 6 hours of sleep a night, but no more than 9.
9. Here is the most important part: STICK TO IT!

If you read Brain over Brawn, follow Starting Strength and Couch to 5k, and keep tracking your calories on Myplate you will definitely see improvements, and the sooner you start the sooner you will look and feel awesome.

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