Your body does really show what you consistently eat. If your diet regularly includes fast foods, processed foods, excess sugars and prepackaged foods, your body will show excess fat. And, if you don’t regularly exercise, you will have even more body fat. A good portion of your fat will be dangerous belly fat!
If you want fat loss, you must eat for fat loss! Everyone needs a meal plan! You need to have some sort of idea of what you are going to eat for the day. If you don't have a meal plan, you might eat anything at any time! If you have a plan, you are more likely to follow it or at least eat similar foods.
Haphazard eating or grazing is probably the biggest killer of meal plans! And, if you don't have a meal plan, grazing with high-calorie and high-fat foods will skyrocket your calories day after day.
It's the same story, a caloric imbalance is the cause of weight gain (consuming more calories than you burn in a day). If you want to speed up your metabolism and burn more calories then exercise regularly (strength training and cardio exercise). Also, eat right and often. Eating small meals every three to four hours will keep your metabolism humming and will keep your body from shifting to "starvation mode" (storing fat).
As the week goes by, compare what you eat to your grocery list and planned menus. Another key to your success is to record what you eat in a food journal. This will hold you accountable on a daily basis. Step by step, day by day, week by week...stay with your grocery list and meal plan most of the time and you will succeed!
Here is an example of a woman’s general fat loss meal plan for a day:
Breakfast: 1.5 cups cheerios cereal, 1 cup 2% low-fat milk; 1/2 cup blueberries; 2 cups brewed green tea
Workout
Post Workout Drink: Carbohydrate/Protein drink, 12 oz.
Snack: 1/4 cup raw almonds and 1 whole apple.
Lunch: 2-3 cups fresh spinach, 2-3 oz. grilled, skinless chicken breast, 1/2 cup sliced strawberries, 1 Tbs. chopped walnuts, 2 Tbs. balsamic vinaigrette. 1 cup brewed green tea.
Snack: 1 small bag natural popcorn, 1 low-fat yogurt
Dinner: 3 oz. grilled salmon, 1/4 cup long-grain brown rice, 1 cup steamed broccoli, 1 tsp olive oil. 1 cup brewed green tea
Snack: 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese, 1/4 cup red or purple grapes
Eat right, exercise regularly and you will love your healthy body.
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES, CPT is a Certified Personal Trainer and former NCAA Division I athlete. Mark’s Fat Blaster Athletic Training System has been proven to give his clients the fit, sculpted and athletic-type bodies they want. Visit Mark’s sites:
My Fitness Hut http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com
Her Fitness Hut http://herfitnesshut.com
Sports Fitness Hut http://sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.com