1. EAT HEALTHIER & DRINK WATER

Nutrition is the most important when trying to lose weight. The key is to have veggies, fruits, lean meats, and complex carbs in your meals. Also, make sure you’re drinking a lot of water. It’s very important to be fully hydrated at all times. Don’t worry about having an unhealthy meal every once in a while, as long as you are consistent. Keep it 80% healthy, 20% whatever you want.

2. LIFT WEIGHTS

Lifting weights will not “bulk” you up. You gain weight by eating more. Lifting heavy or lifting light will suffice as you will need to have a variety with lifting. Our bodies adapt so quickly that we need to change up our workout every 2-3 weeks. When you lift weights, you exert energy in a different manner that burns fat. The reason for lifting is to build muscle. Muscle continues to burn fat when you aren’t lifting. The more muscle, the less fat.

3. CARDIO

Doing just cardio will not make you lean. Cardio gets your heart rate up. You must have a combination of both lifting and cardio. Do a variety of workouts and mix it up for fun (lift, jog, bike, play sports, be active). One of the best cardio workouts to burn fat is doing H.I.I.T. (High Intensity Interval Training). This is getting your heart rate up with intense exercise and then cooling down then having it go up again. For example, sprint for 1 min, then walk for 1 min, and do this back and forth for 12 minutes.

4. SUPPLEMENTS

We never eat a perfect diet and when we don’t, supplements help fill in the gaps. Examples of daily core supplements are multi-vitamins, fish oil, calcium pills, etc. Example for weight training are creatine, protein, BCAA’s, etc. it’s important to know what the right supplement is for your body as it varies per person.

5. REST

Sleep is really important to have when trying to lose weight. Your body needs to recover when you are active and the best way to do that is rest. In addition, having enough sleep will keep your hormones balanced which helps control your appetite and impulses. If you workout and eat right on the regular, your body will continue to burn fat even when you’re resting!

 

What’s your five? What have you done to hit your goals? Let me know your thoughts!