1. Build Muscle. When you add muscle to your body, you increase your metabolic rate, which means you burn more calories all day long.
The most effective way to gain muscle is to train your full body with free weights three times a week for 45 minutes each session. Multiple studies have shown that performing total body workouts, rather than working isolated body parts on different days produces better results.
Each workout should emphasize foot-based lower body exercises such as the lunge, step-up and squat and upper body exercises which include the push-up, pull-up and overhead press. These exercises involve multiple joints, so you work several muscles at once which stimulate the most muscle growth.
2. Add Cardio. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is the fastest and most effective way to burn fat. The reason is that this type of cardio raises your metabolic rate following the workout.
This concept is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). It refers to the fact that you use more oxygen following an interval training session than you do at rest. And since oxygen is used to burn calories, taking in more oxygen will cause you to burn more calories.
3. Eat Low Carb. Contrary to conventional wisdom, many studies have shown that it’s not dietary fat that’s converted into body fat; it’s carbohydrates that are converted into fat by the action of insulin. Many experts agree that most overweight people became overweight because of elevated insulin levels caused by eating too many carbohydrates.
Whenever you eat a high-carbohydrate meal, the increased blood sugar stimulates the production of insulin by the pancreas. Insulin is the hormone that causes fat to be deposited in fat cells and stimulates the brain to produce hunger signals. So restricting your intake of carbohydrates makes it a lot easier to drop fat.
4. Keep A Food Journal. A food journal is just like what it sounds, a notebook in which you record your daily food intake. I’ve found that unconscious eating is often the reason that fat loss programs fail. By simply jotting down what you eat, you can begin eating consciously and have greater success losing those unwanted pounds.
5. Reduce Stress. Our bodies are hard-wired to inhibit fat loss during times of stress so that we have the resources necessary to sprint from a predator or deal with a stressful situation. It’s just plain old evolution. You won’t drop that unwanted fat until you get the stress out of your life.
So take a good look at your life and see what you can change. Techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, mindfulness, and yoga are also helpful in reducing stress.