How to lose body fat - 10 Effective methods
Losing weight is probably one of the most frequently talked about subjects by women worldwide, but sadly, all too often, the methods used to lose that excess weight are unsustainable fad diets.
In order to lose weight for good, you really need to learn how to lose body fat. And yes, there is a difference! Read on to discover the most reliable, natural way to lose excess body fat in the long term, whether you’re a man or a woman, and no matter what stage of life you’re in…
- How to lose body fat naturally
- Set your mind to improve your body
- What is the healthy body fat range for women and men
- Effective ways to lose body fat
- Aid your fat loss with natural supplements
How to lose body fat naturally
When it comes to weight loss, most people just want to know how to lose body fat fast, but long-term, sustainable fat loss doesn’t really work like that. In fact, time and again, studies have shown that the longer it takes to lose excess body fat, the more likely it will be that you’ll stay slim afterward in the long term.
The truth is, there’s no quick fix to burning excess body fat. For long term, lasting results, you’ve just got to stick at the principles below consistently and faithfully. To manage that, you’ve got to alter your mindset from ‘quick-fix’ to ‘commitment’.
Set your mind to improve your body
If you want to lose body fat and retain a lower body fat percentage for good, you need to be starting off on the right foot in the first place. By that, I mean you should be losing the excess body fat for the right reasons. Those reasons should be whatever truely matters to you. If you want to live a longer, healthier life, that should be your reason. If you want to be able to run around with your kids, that’s a good reason too.
If you want to be able to fit into clothes you choose, rather than having to find clothes which hide your frame, and that’s something that genuinely matters to you, well, that’s just as good a reason as any. The key thing is that all of these things start with you – not other people’s perception of you.
You need to give yourself some self-love. Start treating yourself like you deserve to look, feel and be healthy. Only then will you be losing excess body fat for the right reasons. And once you start doing that, something magical happens – you begin to genuinely care enough to make those fat loss changes remain forever.
What is the healthy body fat range for women and men
Before we learn how to lose body fat, perhaps a question everyone should first ask themselves is ‘What is a healthy body fat range for me?’ After all, there’s little use in losing more body fat if you’re already on the low side – that would be just as unhealthy as carrying too much body fat. And if you’re holding on to excess fat, it’s always going to be good to have some sort of goal fat level range to work towards.
When it comes to healthy body fat ranges, the ideal amount varies dependent on whether you’re male or female. Women will naturally carry more body fat than men, which makes sense considering that traditionally, they would be the child-bearers, nurturers and carers, so their need for a lean, toned body would be much less than that of the man, who thousands of years ago would have been the hunter-gatherer of the family. It’s simply a part of nature that we’re designed to carry more excess fat, whether we like it or not – sorry ladies.
Because of this, women have a higher healthy body fat range than men, which seems only fair considering we have a harder time keeping it off. To give you an idea, anything below around 30% body fat is considered ‘normal’ for a woman, and anything below 24% is considered normal for a man. There is of course such a thing as not having enough body fat, and women should never allow theirs to fall below 15%, men not below 10%.
Generally, you’ll only be getting close to the lower range of the figures above if you’re either training to become an athlete, or seriously depriving yourself of essential nutrients. Of course, one of these situations is extremely healthy, and the other is extremely damaging to your health – so if that applies to you, be sure you’re fitting into the healthy category before you lose any more body fat.
Effective ways to lose body fat
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There’s a lot of misinformation around on how to burn body fat quickly and effectively; here are some sustainable tips you can trust to help you on your way to a leaner frame:
1 – Avoid processed foods
Trying to avoid excess calories while living on processed foods is much more difficult than you’ve probably ever realized. To try this theory out, using a calorie tracker, track everything you eat for 2 days. On the first day, eat only processed foods. On the second, eat only whole foods, or meals made from them. You’ll be seriously amazed at the difference in not only calorie content, but also in the reduction in fat, salt, and sugar in your daily diet. Cutting out processed foods can cause radical weight loss very quickly, even without watching the number of calories you eat.
2 – Don’t consume more than 1500 calories per day
There’s only one way you’re going to lose fat – and that’s by not eating enough calories to sustain the fat you currently have on your body. For most women, that means eating around 1500 calories per day should do the trick – although if you’re a little heavier than the ideal weight, you may find this figure will be slightly higher for you. Calculate your ideal calorie intake to get started – you’ll need to ensure that you’re eating around 500 calories fewer than your body needs per day to achieve weight loss of around 1 – 2 pounds per week.
3 – Fill up on soluble fiber
Soluble fiber is the kind which forms a gel within your digestive tract, which helps you to feel fuller for longer and leads to you eating less food overall. The best sources? Citrus fruits and apples, beans, peas and lentils, oats, barley and brussels sprouts. Most adults should be aiming to fit in around 30g of fiber into their diet each and every day.
4 – Get up and exercise!
Exercise is massively underrated by most overweight people. They simply don’t realize just how many calories they can use up by moving more, which can then be used to either increase their deficit or to allow them to have that dessert they’ve been craving while still losing weight.
Just 1 hour of walking can burn between 300 – 350 calories in the average person – enough to allow you 2 bags of potato chips without increasing your daily calorie intake, if that’s what you choose to spend them on!
5 – Cut down on alcohol
It’s an unfortunate truth that alcohol is extremely calorie-dense, and offers no nutritional benefit in return. Not only this, it’s also extremely good at lowering your inhibitions around food you’re trying to avoid – so not only can you easily swallow a 700 calorie bottle of wine in an evening, you can end up eating another 2000 calories worth of snacks on top. That’s not going to be a day when you lose weight! Do this several times per week, and there’s only one direction your weight’s going… upwards!
6 – Cut back on sugar
Scientists have finally begun to realize that it’s not necessarily healthy dietary fats which are our enemies, but the sugar which is so ever-present in the vast majority of processed foods. Since the end of the second world war, our sugar consumption has increased dramatically year on year, to the point that it now causes such levels of morbid obesity that we’re fast approaching the point where the biggest cause of preventable deaths in the world will be obesity-related illnesses.
7 – Increase your water intake
The power of water is greatly underrated when it comes to weight loss – and you should be drinking 2 – 3 liters of it each and every day.
Not only does water stop you mistaking thirst signals for hunger ones, but it also speeds up your metabolism, helps your body to rid itself of waste more quickly and it also stops your body from holding on to excess water (otherwise known as fluid retention). Water retention may not in itself be actual fat gain, but it will hit the figure on the scale and make your body appear more bloated too.
8 – Grow some muscle!
Did you know that muscle takes up less space than fat, for the same amount of weight? Well, it’s superpowers certainly don’t end there. It’s a simple fact that muscle is much more metabolically active than fat, which basically means that the more muscle you hold on your body, the faster your metabolism will be. The result is that fat will have a much tougher time clinging to your hips when it’s having to fuel extra muscle – so get weight lifting!
9 – Increase your protein intake
Protein is without a doubt the most filling of the macronutrients, and far too many overweight people don’t consume enough of it. In fact, it’s probably the lack of protein in their diet which causes them to overeat in the first place.
Try replacing some of your usual carbs and fat with something protein-based – I bet you’ll struggle to eat as many calories as usual over the day.
10 – Add more vinegar to your diet
Relatively new research has found that adding vinegar to your daily diet can cut the number of calories you consume by over 200 per day on average, curb your appetite and reduce both your body fat percentage and body weight over a 12 week period.
Scientists are still figuring out exactly why this is – but one thing’s for sure, it’s definitely a thing! Why not add a vinaigrette salad dressing, or perhaps some apple cider vinegar to your next meal?
Aid your fat loss with natural supplements
The tips above are all safe, natural and healthy ways to lose excess body fat in the long term – and we would always recommend this method over any artificial method involving prescription drugs or unknown substances.
Having said this, there really is no harm in getting a little extra help from a reputable natural appetite suppressant such as PhenQ. All of the ingredients in this product are well researched and time-tested – with no dodgy side effects to worry about.
Conclusion
So, if you’re wondering how to lose upper body fat fast, cut down the size of your thighs or get a smaller waist (whether for men or women), the basic rules remain the same. Improve your diet, increase your activity levels and sustain a calorie deficit during the duration of the time you want to lose any excess body fat. It really is that simple. The difficult part is retaining the fat-loss mindset, but armed with the tips within this article, hopefully, you’ll now be able to manage that much more effectively!
Have you lost excess body fat in the long-term using these methods? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
