Burn Fat Fast

INSHAPE NEWS OPINION

Vanessa Auditore – Human Behaviour and Wellbeing Specialist

Fat burning requires that we turn up the thermostat. This principle is similar to a pot boiling on the stove. Too much heat or energy output, in your case, means that the pot boils over or burns. In this respect, the same can happen to your body, if you attempt to maintain a high pace. In contrast, not enough heat means that the body isn’t adequately challenged to make changes and use excess energy, also known as body fat, and increase fitness levels,as well as build lean muscle etc.

Based on this premise, balance is always the key and implies that:

Exercise and adequate nutrition will work together to achieve optimal results. This means that you need to assess your starting point and your end goal, before starting a fitness program, and that you then factor in a reasonable timeframe and set small achievable steps to get there.

Remember we don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan.

The best way to achieve results is to research, test, measure and plan. With this principle in place, I find my best results come from a mixture of 3 different weight sessions. The first, is where I lift as heavy as I can, safely, while I pay attention to form and technique. Theses types of session build lean muscle, which continues to burn fat long after you have put the weights down. The second, is an interval full-body session using either body weight exercises or with the added assistance of suspension cables or gravity training (TRX). These types of sessions turn up the heat and challenge the body to use any “excess energy” more efficiently. This is because homeostasis or “shock” to the system occurs, and this requires more energy for use and to keep up with the output. The third, is where you consider your food intake. It is important to remember that you need to have a supportive nutritional program, which means you don’t train harder and then go and eat more, as no imbalance will occur and this means no change.

All of this is backed up with yoga and meditation to restore  calm to my system. This ensures that I am not staying stuck in an adrenal or stressed state, as this will cause my metabolism to hold onto fat stores in order to keep me alive as the body percieves that I am in a state of stress and I need to survive, which certainly isn’t the objective. In addition, yoga also helps to lengthen the muscles and makes sure that the toxins created from increased output are cleared from the system, with greater ease. This type of exercise also reduces the risk of injury and fatigue, meaning I am more likely to continue with my program, rather than feel the impact of going out there and going hard!

In summary:

1.Prepare yourself and set goals.

2. Break these goals down into smaller steps.

3. Assess your current health and balance your training to increase output safely.

4. Support this with adequate nutrition.

5. Rest and reset.

6. Keep going and make every workout and meal count.

Vanessa Auditore has been working in the health and wellness industry since 1998, when she graduated as a master personal trainer. Since then, she has continued her professional development to include transformational life coaching, counsellor QMACA, presenter and lecturer for the Australian fitness industry, expert advice consultant for national magazines including Cleo, Cosmopolitan, Fitness First, Blitz magazine and has developed a successful online presence via the SuccessheadQ blog. In addition, Vanessa features regularly as a guest on many Australian based health and wellbeing blogs, and has also competed  in natural figure competitions, at a national level. Vanessa is continuing to expand her academic pursuits with a double degree in behavioural science and communication and media, and is applying her expertise to achieve personal goals by integrating holistic practices.

Sally Symonds – Weight Loss Coach and Author

If you want to burn fat fast, then you really need to consider where you are coming from in the first place. For example, if you want to burn fat fast because you want to lose weight or you’ve always struggled with your weight, then it’s worth remembering that the fastest way to lose weight is to lose it once.  The best way to do to this is to lose it in a way that teaches you how to keep it off for good. If you’ve ever tried to lose weight by doing burpees until you felt like you were going to burst, pushups until you puked, or squats that left you feeling like you couldn’t even pee in peace for the next three days, chances are that you would sooner quit than continue that exhaustive regime. Then it is highly likely that you will regain all the weight you’d lost, and probably more.  Burning fat fast for non-exercisers is all about balancing the physical, practical and psychological.  It’s about thinking long-term.  It’s well worth sacrificing short-term success for long-term sustainability.

On the other hand, if you love to exercise and you want to burn fat fast, one of the best ways to do this is by varying the exercises that you currently do.  There are over 50 different ways to squat, 50 ways to lunge and 50 ways to do a plank.  Most people only do about five.  Shock your body and you will soon see results.

Boxing, HIRT and cross-fit are the most phenomenal fast-fat burning options around, especially if you’ve never tried them before.  Incorporating intervals into whatever type of training you do is also a great way to burn fat fast and prolong your training session.

Sally Symonds holds a certificate III and IV in fitness, is a certified wellness coach, and a NLP practitioner. She holds a Masters and Bachelors degree in Arts, and an Associate and Licentiate in Speech and Drama. Having lost over 50 percent of her body weight, Sally Symonds is the author of 50 steps to lose 50kg… And Keep It Off and 50+ Recipes to Lose 50+kg… And Keep It Off and more than 20 other ebooks. Sally offers phone and online weight loss coaching, as well as a variety of other healthy living services and products.

Julie Montagu – Co-founder of iNourish, London, and Power Yoga

According to the World Health Organization, there are more than a billion overweight adults in the world – at least 300 million of whom are clinically obese (three times more clinically obese people than in 1980).  Obesity is a complex condition caused by over-consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods that are high in saturated fats and sugars, and a lack of physical activity.

Switching from energy-dense, fat filled, low-nutrition foods to lighter, fibre-containing, vegetable-based, nutrient-rich foods provides plenty of energy and nourishment to help your body detox, digest and function better – which will help you to lose weight.

Eat foods that are high in the antioxidant glutathione, which plays a significant role in blood-fat metabolism.  The way to ensure adequate glutathione is to eat foods containing the amino acid cysteine.  This is found in red pepper, garlic, onions, broccoli, brussel sprouts, oats, wheatgerm and most animal foods.  Alfalfa sprouts and leaves reduce fatty plaque formation and bromelain from pineapple breaks down fatty plaques in the arteries.

Carnitine is a vitamin-like compound made in the liver, kidney and brain.  It is made from the amino acid lysine (with the help of iron and vitamin C), and is effective in boosting the metabolism of saturated fats and cholesterol.  Foods rich in lystine and iron,  such as tempeh, lentils, muesli, peas, tahini, chickpeas, beans, nuts and seeds help to replenish carnitine.  Good sources of vitamin C include guava, red pepper, green leaves, mangetout peas, broccoli, papaya, mango and citrus fruits. For more top healthy eating and lifestyle tips, please visit www.inourish.co.uk

Julie Montagu is the co-founder of iNourish. She is a certified yoga instructor, who holds a Bachelors of Science degree and studied at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City.

Julie recently released her first Power Yoga DVD, in conjunction with Katie Hunter (picutred), which is now available on their website or at Amazon.

Nick Jack – CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach and Personal Trainer

Nick Jack is a qualified CHEK Exercise Coach, Level II Holistic Lifestyle  Coach and personal trainer.

He runs a personal  training business called No Regrets Personal Training.

Nick likes to lift weights, cycle, run and triathlon.

He has played almost every sport at one time in his life. Now, he enjoys spending time walking his dog and relaxing with his wife and friends.

Michael Wilson – Personal Trainer and Founder of Enliven Fitness

Jayson Lincoln – Celebrity Personal Trainer and Owner of Head for Health

People often tell me they are training 4 to 5 times a week and are not seeing the results they expect. The problem for most people is that they don’t push themselves and they do the same exercises week after week.

If you look at the average person’s day this is how it normally plays out…they wake up, sit down and have breakfast, then they are off to work, sitting in their car or on public transport. They get to work, sit down for the next 8 hours, then they drive home sitting in their car or on public transport. Once they get home, they sit down, watch TV, check their emails, look at Facebook, then they go to the gym, where they sit on a machine to do their work out. Can you see a pattern there? Yes, we spend our ENTIRE life sitting. To burn more fat, you simply need to move more.

When most people walk into a gym, they see all the fancy machines and assume ‘this must be a great gym, this is what I need’. Truthfully, the majority of machines require you to sit down, and if your goal is to lose weight, these machines should be avoided. When you sit, it means fewer muscles are being used, which means less calories are being burnt.

To burn fat fast, do exercises that use as many muscles as possible, involve balance and co-ordination, and work in multiple directions. This type of training will turn you into a calorie burning machine. Some of the best fat burning exercises are the old basic ones. For legs you have squats, lunges and step ups. These exercises can be performed using your body weight. To burn even more calories, use hand weights. For your arms and upper body, the best exercises are push ups, dips and reverse push ups (body weight row). Each of these exercises involve balance, coordination and work a lot of muscles, providing you with a fit, toned body.

Some of my favourite exercises are combination exercises where you do two at the same time like a squat with a shoulder press or a lunge with a lateral raise or push up with a jackknife on a swiss ball.

Happy exercising!

Jayson Lincoln is a Sydney personal trainer and owner of ‘Head For Health’ studio in Randwick, Australia. He’s trained actress Kate Ritchie, footballer Stuart Webb and 60 Minutes journalist Alison Langdon. During his career, he’s helped thousands of people accomplish their health and fitness goals.

Jayson specialises in one-on-one training and 12 week body transformations.