We all want to look our best. Muscle, tone, and low body fat are all attractive and healthy appearances for anyone, male or female. Working towards this body image is admirable, but also extremely difficult to attain, as well as maintain once you have reached it. Unfortunately, there is no magic pill or fat burning diet that will magically let you lose weight while eating all of the junk food you want. To burn fat you need to eat a healthy combination of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, as well as maintaining a healthy exercise routine into which both weight training and cardiovascular work are incorporated.
A balanced diet is the foundation of any good exercise program. When training, a 40-30-30 ratio is optimal, where 40 percent of your calories come from various carbohydrates such as whole grains, 30 percent of your calories come from protein sources such as post workout shakes, meats, and dairy, and 30 percent of your calories come from multiple different sources of good fats that aren't saturated or hydrogenated. Some foods that are a good idea to include in your fat burning diet are eggs, cheese, oatmeal, and plenty of fruits and vegetables, as well as large amounts of water, which helps your digestive system process the food that you have been eating.
While eating enough food is necessary to maintain your energy levels and muscles, it is important to not eat too much food. In general, you should never dip below 1500 calories per day, but should also never eat so much that you start to gain weight again. To measure your weight loss, it is always a good idea to weigh yourself in the morning and at night every day, and record your weights in an exercise log, as well as what you ate and how much you worked out.
The final part of a good weight loss program is the exercise. To lose weight, you need to expend more energy than you consume in the form of food, and cardio exercises such as walking, biking, running, and swimming are all great ways to burn large amounts of calories in a short period of time. Generally, a rule of thumb for the calories burned while running or walking is one calorie per pound that you weigh per mile, and for biking it is the same number of calories, but divided by five. This is by no means an absolute rule, but rather a good way for a person to gauge the amount of energy that they are burning.
Finally, it is always important to remember that it is never a good idea to lose more than two pounds per week, as at that point it starts to become water and muscle that you are losing, instead of fat. Always consult a doctor before you begin any exercise program or any fat burning diet.
Click here to learn more about the Best Fat Burning Diets... [http://bestfatburningdiet.org/]
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_R_Mooney
