6 Essential Keys to Fat Loss Success

Essential Key One: You must change your mindset
You must think positive. If the only thoughts that go through your mind are about being fat or having to lose weight, your thoughts will transform into reality. You also have to set specific goals. You must write them down and review them everyday. You should envision yourself when you reach this goal living in the body of your dreams. The power of the mind is amazing. Use it to your advantage.
Each night, write down what actions you did over the course of the day that led you closer to your goal. Also, write down what actions you will do the next day that will help take you one step closer. Make sure you do this every night and review it again in the morning. After a few weeks you will have a complete lifestyle map that will let you know how you complied with your program and how it has helped you.
Essential Key Two: You must have a network of support
If you are to truly change your body, you will have to have people you love help you. It is very hard to accomplish your fat loss goals if the ones around you are pulling you in the wrong direction. Let everyone you currently spend large amounts of time with know that you have set a goal and you intend to reach it. When you are struggling, they will help.
If there are certain people in your life now that are not supportive, cut them loose. If you have expressed to them how important it is to reach your goal and they are still sabotaging your efforts, then they are not truly your friends.
Find some people close to you that have similar goals and interests. If you have questions, it is very important to have someone to turn to that has been in your situation. It is also very empowering to be able to help someone out when they are struggling and in need of help.
Essential Key Three: You must change your nutrition habits.
There are three things you will need to change in order to efficiently lose fat. If you change these things, you will melt fat like never before. You have to eat breakfast. I know this has been repeated over and over but it cannot be overstated. The first meal of the day replenishes nutrients used during your sleep as well as crank up your fat burning “furnace” for the rest of the day.
You will also need to eat more frequently throughout the day. The “3 squares a day” mantra is one of the worst things you can do to your body while trying to lose fat. Your energy levels will be very erratic and it will cause you to binge eat, thus ruining most of your hard fought efforts through 95% of the rest of your program.
You must balance fat, protein, starchy carbs and fibrous carbs. Your plate should be very colorful ensuring you are getting enough vitamins, minerals and fiber as well as protein and essential fats.
Essential Key Four: You must train with resistance
In order to efficiently burn fat you will need to increase or stabilize muscle mass. Muscle mass is what revs up your metabolism allowing you to burn calories while you are not in the gym. This can be achieved through resistance training. Your training will have to be intense and heavy. Stick with the basics: Squats, Pull-ups, Pushups and Hip extension movements. It does no good to lift lighter weights for more reps when you are trying to burn fat.
You should always train using circuits. Don’t do isolated body part training; it is a thing of the past. It is time consuming and frankly, circuit training is far superior. After you perform one exercise for a certain movement, you will do another exercise for a different movement. Both exercises should include movements which are opposite in function. You will find that you are working much harder yet spending much less time working out.
Resistance train every other day. If you are training correctly with circuits, you can elevate your metabolism for approximately 38 hours after training. Your day off will allow you to recover from your previous workout and you will train again before your metabolism drops to normal levels. This will ensure maximum fat loss.
Essential Key Five: You must do cardiovascular training
Cut down on the slow cardio sessions. Replace them with high intensity interval training. You can pick from cardio machines, running fast paced sprints, or multiple complex movements. Perform 15 to 60 seconds of very hard work followed by 45 to 90 seconds of rest. Repeat these intervals for 15 -25 minutes. 25 minutes is the absolute longest time for cardio training using intervals. If you can do longer periods than that, you are not working hard enough. Again, you will spend less time working and burn more calories as a result.
For more accelerated fat loss, you may supplement longer, slow paced cardio session a few times per week. Note that I said supplement. By no means should this be the staple of your fat loss program. It is meant only to burn a few extra calories on days you are resting.
The big picture becomes trying to burn more calories when you are not in the gym. If you are focusing all of your efforts on burning a large number of calories while you are working out in the gym, you might as well start paying rent. That is where you will need to live.
Essential Key Six: You must make the following keys a way of life
It is very hard to maintain a lean sculpted body once you achieve it. In order to ensure that your efforts are not wasted, you will need to make each of these keys a way of life. It is said to take 21 days to form a habit. The first three weeks are critical to your success.
To make these keys habits, you will have to do a lot of planning. You should always know what you are eating for the next day. Have your meals planned and prepared before it is time to eat. Also, for the first 3 weeks, schedule appointments for your workouts and always follow through with them. They will need to be the priority.
Don’t skip a meal; don’t skip a workout. Always take it one day at a time. Focus all of your efforts on your next meal and your next workout. String good days together, they become a week. String good weeks together, they become a month. Months become years and you are finally living the life of your dreams.
While these keys will ensure that your fat loss goals are met, they all have very specific requirements, which I will reveal deeper in later articles.
Trey Eckerman is a reknown fitness coach specializing in accelerated fat loss programs. He has written and supervised fat loss programs for numerous individuals ranging from former highly competitive athletes to previously sedentary beginners.
Trey Eckerman is a renown fitness coach specializing in accelerated fat loss programs. He has written and supervised fat loss programs for numerous individuals ranging from former highly competitive athletes to previously sedentary beginners. He is the owner of http://www.playitfitness.com a website that is geared to help people reach their fat loss and other fitness goals. He also owns Right at Home Fitness [http://www.rightathomefitness.com]http://www.rightathomefitness.com, a national fitness coaching company specializing in fitness programs in clients' homes.

Strength Training For Weight Loss Is Possible

Strength training for weight loss is not a tricky issue. Sure, it's taken us women a few more years to wander over to the free weight section, but that's because we tend to associate strength training with weight gain.
Yikes! Muscle bound men lifting extremely heavy weights and grunting. Not very inviting when you are looking to lose fat, drop weight and tone up.
So is it possible for us to strength train, gain muscle, and lose weight? It sure is. And here's a tip...if you can count to 12, you can do it!
This article focuses on strength training for weight loss. It is designed to give you guidance so that you can develop your own strength training for weight loss routine.
Getting back to our strength training for weight loss article... you're here because you are tired of all the mis-information being spouted by Joe Schmo and Suzie Smack. I'm glad you've found me and I'll tell you why- strength training is the best way to lose weight and keep it off!
Let's take a look at how the strength training for weight loss process works over and over again in thousands of women like us.
I started training with a client named Joan. She was your average, typical American woman. She worked full-time and had two kids in grade school. Joan's schedule was packed with baseball practice and dance classes...for her kids...not her.
She rarely had time to work out, and honestly if she had some free time she certainly didn't want to spend it sweating and losing her breath.
Over the years Joan gained 45 pounds. She used to workout at home a few years ago and even bought a treadmill with every intention of using it. And she did, once or twice. Now it takes up space and gathers dust.
I asked Joan if she would be willing to do the following:
- a strength training for weight loss program
- set realistic and tangible goals
- and count to 12 a few times a week.
She looked at me with an arched brow and said, "Sure." So begins a strength training for weight loss success story. Strength training for weight loss is simple and effective.
We began by measuring her fitness levels.
It was essential for us to see exactly where Joan was starting from because in a few short weeks, she was going to notice big time changes.
I wanted her to see first hand how successful she was about to become by strength training for weight loss.
Armed with her fitness levels, Joan set her realistic and tangible goal to lose 10-15 pounds by summer. That meant we had two months to drop 10-15 pounds in a safe way.
No problem. We developed the correct strength training routine for her, and she was off!
--Joan's Strength Training For Weight Loss Plan--
Joan worked with weights 2 days a week and cardio 3-4 days a week. She was instructed to keep a log of her workouts and to check-in.
Joan worked her muscles the proper way for weight loss. She worked her entire body for the next two months.
Each set was 12 repetitions long. Her total workout time was less than 60 minutes 4-5 times a week. Her cardio was a mix of interval training and incline walking on her existing treadmill.
In addition to her treadmill, Joan worked out using only free weights and a stability ball. She did some running outside too. All in all, Joan spent less than $200 to get her new body and new outlook on life.
She reached her goals by summer. Simple. And you can do a strength training for weight lost routine too!
--Recap And Roll!--
Strength training for weight loss adds a nice layer of pure muscle. Lean, toned muscle. This lean muscle devours calories. Even at rest!
The more muscle we have, the more calories our body uses. The more calories our body uses, the more weight we lose. Easy!
Remember-
+ Measure Your Fitness Levels
+ Work each muscle group several times/week
+ Do sets of 12 repetitions or pick another method that suits you better.
+ Set realistic, tangible goals
+ Log Every Workout!
+ Stick with it, even when you don't want to. Make a promise to yourself that you will begin to workout. If after 5 minutes of working out you still want to quit, then by all means take a rest. I can almost guarantee you that you will continue on!

Lynn VanDyke is a master trainer and nutritionist focusing on straight-forward fat loss workouts. Her wildly popular ebook, Melt the Fat is available for immediate download. Bonuses are being offered for a limited time only. [http://www.melt-the-fat.com]Learn more about Melt the Fat!