Burning fat has been a subject of human focus since the time when we lived in caves. It’s true! Whether Neanderthal man realized it or not fat was one of the most important subjects affecting him. The main difference between fat concerns of the ancients and our fat concerns today are simple. They needed fat to survive. They had incredibly limited diets and fat was an essential part of it. We on the other hand don’t get nearly the exercise of our predecessors, even the ones of just forty years ago. Coupled with our rich and varied fat laden diet and you begin to see the dilemma of modern man. The consumption of fat reaches to our very core, even the beginnings of our core.
The human body is an amazing machine, so complex yet so simple. It is a self replicating, often times self repairing machine that can sustain itself for decades with an incredibly small amount of effort on our part. The most difficult thing we have to do really is not do things that are harmful and it will generally chug along for a very long time. Probably the most destructive thing we do to our bodies is…nothing. That’s right. We sit around and do nothing. We go through our daily routines making sure to take the easiest way out of everything. We call it ‘being efficient’. Voila, we get fat and lazy, and we age faster, and we get sick, and sometimes we die young.
So what do we do about it? Well we try all sorts of different things, but few actually work. The ones that do are time consuming, difficult and generally too much trouble for the average modern man…or are they; really?
This is the simple part of the human body. Your body is truly a walking, talking, thinking furnace. It is designed to burn fuel and create energy. The fuel is measured in calories and the energy is simply that; energy. Energy to walk, talk, think, exercise, love, work eat. Energy to live. So light the furnace and get your life moving.
Of course the biggy is EXERCISE!!! (I can’t use enough exclamation marks to get the point across). Yes, cardio is the best way to get the furnace lit but there are other things that are either, essential to getting the furnace lit or, at the very least, helpful, and you know what? They’re not very difficult or time consuming after all. Almost everything we do uses energy, including sleeping so the more you do the more energy you use and being the self sustaining machine that it is, the human body, will compensate and create more energy, all you need in fact.
Cardio is a great place to start but people that stop there do a grave disservice to their bodies. It needs more. On top of getting the blood moving we need to produce the means by which we can move; muscles. Strength training or strengthening exercise is important because only muscles burn fat, so the more muscle mass you have the faster you’ll burn up the fat calories.
Something very important to the production of muscle mass is food. Sweet huh? The more you work your muscles the more you can eat without storing fat. However how you eat is more important than what you eat. You may eat the healthiest food in the world but if you do it wrong you will still store fat or at least keep storing what you already have. Eating smaller portions is a good idea but eating smaller portions more often is better. When your body has adequate fuel available (in the form of food being processed in the digestive system) your metabolism begins to spike. If there is a shortage of readily available fuel your body’s natural defenses kick in and fat hording actually occurs. Starvation diets do little good for a very long time and even then cause serious damage to the body. Eating breakfast is crucial. By the time breakfast rolls around your body has likely been without food for eight hours or more. It needs energy, so give it some. Don’t go overboard but make it substantial and no, a plain croissant won’t do it. It needs protein, carbs and calcium.
Calcium is a much ignored supplement that is crucial to our well being. Calcium either helps in the assimilation of certain compounds that are essential to our health and well being or else is absolutely necessary in order for our bodies to utilize them. Low fat dairy is terrific for this feat. It gives us protein and readily available calcium.
Often times people make the mistake of thinking they can get all the necessary supplements they are missing in their diet by taking compounded supplements, in tablet form. Not necessarily the best plan. Taking many different supplements can’t give you what your body needs, which is good, healthy food. Remember they supplements not substitutes. It’s OK to supplement a healthy diet with vitamins and minerals; after all if they are in tablet form they will likely pass on through before your body can utilize the majority of what’s in them, try those that are food based in liquid form for optimal benefits.
Another very important part of a healthy diet is water. Water is the most important substance on earth to the human body next to the air we breathe. In fact when it comes to burning calories we should think of it as the air we drink. Ask yourself this basic elementary school science question. What are the three requirements to make fire?
Now ask yourself what is the molecular makeup of water (another simple elementary school science question)? H2O – Two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, both of which are flammable and volatile, by the way. So the more water you drink the better off you are especially if you are trying to burn up excess calories in the form of stored fat.
Another way to infuse your body with oxygen is really the simplest; breathing. Breathe deeply and often. There is very little conversion necessary. Oxygen goes right into the bloodstream where it is made available for all manner of self sustaining processes.
Finally at the end of the day you can indulge in one of the best calorie killers of all; sleep. Plenty of deep, restful sleep is another essential to a healthy body. Without it your body’s defense processes take over again and your body will actually begin to horde energy…oops, the fire just went out. If you are not getting eight to ten restful hours of sleep you need to change your sleeping habits, even try a different bed or pillow.
So to burn fat and lose excess or maintain a healthy weight here is what is necessary in an average day (everyday).
- A healthy breakfast
- Water
- Exercise (accompanied by deep breathing)
- More water (accompanied by more deep breathing)
- More healthy, smaller meals)
- More water
- More Exercise (any kind will do, and don’t forget the breathing)
- More water
- A good night’s restful sleep
In the morning you can get up rested, refreshed and do it all again, so light the furnace and start burning that fat!!
