Weight loss and muscle building

1 Set A Goal For Yourself And Achieve It

Until you set a goal of how much body fat you want to lose, you are just dreaming. It needs to be specific and written down. If losing body fat is what you want to do, you must be willing to achieve it at all costs. If you do not want to lose body fat enough, you will continue to give yourself reasons not to work out.

Get real and tell yourself that you are going to do this, no matter what. Before any other step, this is the most important one.

If you are not real and serious about losing fat, all the other steps will not help you. YOU MUST SET A GOAL FOR YOURSELF. You need a reason to keep going, to do cardio first thing in the morning, to skip that extra slice of pizza. You need a reason or you will not follow through. So step 1 is to stop dreaming and start doing. Tell yourself you are going to achieve your goal no matter what. Write down what you want to achieve and then go after it!

2 Drink your life away!

Its importance cannot be stated enough, especially when it comes too fat-loss and fitness training. Shoot for at least a gallon a day, preferably more. The inconvenience of constantly using the bathroom is a minor drawback compared to the benefits you will receive.

3 Eat 5-6 (Or More) Small Meals A Day

This is important in keeping your metabolism efficiently burning calories. Constantly grazing on meals every 3 hours will allow your body to burn off what it has consumed quicker and more efficiently. Eating one or two larger meals will actually cause your body's metabolism to slow down. Skipping meals altogether will actually cause your body to store fat as a defense mechanism.

Your body is not sure when its going to get its next meal so it tends to store more in case of perceived famine. Make each meal consist of higher protein (builds muscle), moderate carbohydrates (fuel for the body) and low fat (energy and protection). Use the 50-40-10 rules as an approximate guideline. 50% of your calories coming from protein, 40% carbs, and 10% fats.

4 Do INTENSE Cardio 3-4 Times A Week

This is where the majority of the calorie burning takes place. Not necessarily from the cardio you just did, but from the fact that doing cardio increases your metabolic rate so that the rest of the day you will burn off more calories as well.

Treat your cardio days like you do your workouts. That means put all of your energy and intensity into your cardio. Do 20-30 minutes of cardio 3-4 days a week.

During a session of cardio, warm-up for 5 minutes, then do 20 minutes at a high intensity pace. Then cool down for the last 5 minutes.

Go at a fast enough pace where you are sweating, panting, huffing, puffing, turning red. Get your body out of homeostasis (every things normal and in balance). Doing cardio for the sakes of doing it will not burn fat. Going for a leisurely walk will not sufficiently burn fat, unless you walk ten miles. Riding a stationary bike while relaxingly reading the paper will not burn much fat.

Treadmill

Stairmaster and running on the Treadmill are good examples. The recumbent bike is good also, because you can focus on high intensity without worrying about falling off. The more your whole body moves, the more energy you expend.

5 Do INTENSE Weight Training 3-4 Times A Week

Do not mistake weight training w/ trying to burn fat. Weight training will not burn a sufficient amount of body fat. What weight training will do is help you burn fat in the future. When you add muscle to your frame, your body has to expend more energy (burn more calories) to maintain that muscle tissue.