In the beginning you probably aren’t as toned as you’d like to be. Whether you are weightlifting, generally just trying to get healthier, fat reduction and increased tone will be your aim whether you are male or female.
The problem is that many of others hit a plateau pretty quickly. Initially you’ll see some fat cutting and muscle growth, but it will slow and stop unless you know exactly how to keep progressing it. You’ll feel good, but that’s where it starts to become a struggle. What you did before doesn’t work, and pushing things up to the next level seems impossible.
It’s the same with women, where losing fat and toning up is more important in gaining muscle mass. When you’re hardly eating and physically exhausted from the amount you’re doing, and you’re still not losing that last stubborn fact, then you start to wonder how the hell it’s ever going to happen.
So what I’m going to do here is talk you through the top things that can cut more fat rapidly. Taking these things on board will help you to lose fat quicker than you can naturally in the beginning, meaning with less stubborn fat to deal with far more quickly.
Even if you’ve been in a rut for a while, just refocusing using what I’m saying here could make the difference in ripping away that last 5% stubborn body fat, especially that brown fat that seems to cling to the middle of your body regardless.
The Reasons Why Some People Struggle To Lose Stubborn Body Fat
Everyone wants to hit the ground running when they take up a new fitness routine, and you will initially lose plenty of body fat and change the tone of your body.
But that only last a few weeks and then you start to plateau. Unless you continually push yourself, the effects start to diminish in intensity.
Plus, your body will claim to body fat like there’s no tomorrow, especially that last stubborn reserve. It does that to protect itself because of the way it’s been trained genetically the famine status, so it clings to the fat for the times when there are no food and it has to burn it as an emergency.
Also, many people make the mistake of cutting out too much of the nutrients when they are trying to lose weight. This put your body into starvation mode, the technical name for which is adaptive thermogenesis.
Unfortunately, this is partly nature. The less you eat, the lower and slower the weight loss will be, meaning you could have to basically indefinitely eat less and less and workout more and more in order to keep things going.
So what you have to do is look at the most efficient ways to get the best results, and target the food you’re taking into ensure that you are not storing bad calories due to what you are eating, or when you are eating in relation to the exercise and energy expenditure you undertake.
If You’re Male Then Testosterone Levels Could Be The Problem
If you are male, then it might not actually be anything to do with food. It could be your age and your testosterone levels that are the problem.
Testosterone is crucial to helping to burn fat. It helps in the muscles and it’s proven that higher levels of testosterone burn more fat more rapidly. Healthy levels maintain lean mass and maximize calorie burning.
So my advice if you are over 40 and you’re male is to have a testosterone level test. That will tell you if you have significantly declining testosterone that put it below what’s testosterone boosting supplement all the way through to full testosterone replacement therapy in order to address the balance and start your body into higher levels fat burning.
Don’t just think testosterone is a problem for men. Women also have testosterone and it’s been shown in multiple studies that higher levels of estrogen in women compared to testosterone can also lead to obesity and lower levels of energy.
At the very least, as a female (and if you’re male but not to the same extent), you should be looking at an antiestrogenic diet. I wouldn’t recommend testosterone supplements though, because you can certainly lower estrogen in the body, and take natural supplements that stop the conversion of testosterone into estrogen, to enable you to have high enough level of testosterone to offset the potential of saturated estrogen levels.
Look At Your Overall Diet And Energy Budget
If you can’t shift that stubborn fat no matter what you do, then I’m telling you the best place to start looking is in your overall diet.
Calories in at a faster rate than calories out leads to the creation of fat. It really is that simple. Also, what you eat can increase that happening more quickly.
The place to start is looking at your macronutrient balance. Usually, your macronutrient balance will be around 55% carbohydrates, 35% proteins, and 10% fats.
In order to lose weight and build muscle tone, you’ll want to shift those balances. But don’t fixate on it, because that shift isn’t as big as many people think.
Some people shift over to 60% proteins. I’m telling you, that is wasted. The body simply doesn’t process it, and it can put stress on your organs. Plus, it can just create even more unused calories.
You should still keep around 50% carbohydrates. Around 45% proteins and around 5% fats. Good fats are essential to many mental and physical functions, plus high levels of fatty acids offer better neuroprotective and cardiovascular health.
It’s the type of carbs that is important. Carbs produce energy. You should be having carbs before your workout, as they help to allow you to power through your workouts, building muscle, and burning calories.
They must be the right type of carbohydrates though. Slow burning, natural carbohydrates. Not refined carbohydrates and sugars. You’ll feel high levels of energy, you’ll recover faster, and be able to push yourself harder if you eat the right balance of good quality carbs, proteins, and fats.
So I would start just by adjusting the balance rather than reducing your calorie intake. You’ll find you have more energy, and can work out for longer. You will find that you naturally burn more calories and reduce your fat because your body is getting everything it needs without the rubbish being left over.
Once you have worked on your macronutrient balance, it’s then time to look at the specific foods. A diet rich in the following will really help:
- Lean proteins like poultry, fish, and some dairy
- Whole grains
- Beans
- Nuts and seeds
- Tons of fresh vegetables
- Small amounts of good quality fruit
Just be moving your macronutrient balance and then moving the foods within each group into good quality natural food, you will start to notice a change not only in the rate you lose fat, but also that less is staying on.
Be Careful When Using Supplements
Many of us have a supplement before the gym, and many of us have one after. Energy drinks and protein shakes are incredibly common.
You can’t discount them though. They are still energy going into your body. You may think you are burning it during your workout, which is usually the case, but it means you burning that rather than the existing fat. It means your calorie deficit is net zero, or even in a positive, after workout.
For me, if you can, eat well before the gym so that you have natural energy rather than supplementing sugary drinks. If you need something, take caffeine for that boost rather than glucose.
That means you’ll be burning more of the energy already in your body when you work out.
Post workout, if you want to build muscle, then sure, you may legitimately have a small protein shake boost. But be careful that you then don’t go away and then a large meal as well. You’re just doubling up when you don’t need to.
Too many people, especially guys, will down a protein shake that contains around 800 Cal post workout, then go home and have a significant meal. All you are doing is starting to stack calories up that you are not burning.
So on top of ensuring you eat within the right balance, and that you are eating in a slight calorie deficit, especially at the right times, you must make sure that you are not ignoring the calorific value of the supplement put in as well.
Be Honest About How Often You Work Out And What Calories You Are Burning
If you’re doing purely aerobic exercise, which a lot of females do, then that isn’t going to be as efficient as an all round workout routine.
So you need to look at resistance training as well. Studies have shown that resistance training is more efficient at burning calories than aerobic exercise, especially when muscle tone develops because bigger muscles burn more calories, even when resting.
If you’re male, then you probably will be doing resistance training. But pure resistance training, especially heavy lifting isn’t always the best way to cut fat. You will need to do aerobics and cardiovascular exercises as well, in order to build your endurance and enhance calorie burning.
Whether you are male or female, studies have consistently shown that resistance training alongside aerobic and cardiovascular exercise, a good quality all round fitness regime, is more efficient at burning that stubborn fat.
Overall, studies of recommended around 40 minutes of exercise daily. It doesn’t always have to be running or weight training, it could just be a brisk walk for 40 minutes.
The more you burn calories, and the stronger you get, the more that snowball starts to roll down the hill. In combination with good diet as well, especially in a small calorie deficit, you will see the fat loss.
But you must be honest about how much you work out. Over a week, do you average 30 minutes per day? Even if you don’t do every day, are you averaging 3 ½ or more hours exercise per week?
I’m guessing most of the people struggling with that body fat problem aren’t getting that level of exercise, and aren’t truly addressing the diet they need in order to fuel energy while minimizing fat storage.
Look At Simple Supplements That Can Really Help To Increase The Rate Of Fat Burning
Let’s finish here by looking at the simple supplements you can use it can really increase the rate of fat burning.
Thank supplements are not miracle pills and potions. Even SARMs, which can be potent, won’t burn tons of fat without significant intervention on your part.
Talking about Ostarine as an example of a SARM linked to fat burning. In fact, Ostarine really works by maintaining muscle mass in a calorie deficit. It was designed for muscle wasting illnesses, so the calorie deficit was coming from the illness, and Ostarine was protecting the muscle mass.
So if you are healthy, then the calorie deficit has to come from having less calories coming in, then going out.
So you still need to eat in a calorie deficit, and eat the right things, alongside working out in order to SARMs like Ostarine to work.
Going even more basic, caffeine is another brilliant way of burning more calories. Caffeine increases thermogenesis, so it definitely does burn more fat than you can naturally.
Also, caffeine can give you the determination, focus, and energy to push yourself harder in your exercises, meaning your build more tone and burn more fat.
More than that, caffeine is known to increase metabolism, stimulate the central nervous system, and helps encourage a faster break down fatty acids.
Don’t make the mistake of drinking tons of coffee with calories in it though. Stick to caffeine pills and make sure that these are taken at the appropriate time, meaning just before you work out.
There are other natural substances you can take that also increase thermogenesis, including many common substances like cayenne pepper.
My advice though is to look a good quality supplement the bundle these together in strong enough doses, and the right proportions, rather than taking all these things on their own.
However, if you don’t want spend money on professional grade supplement, then caffeine, creatine, minor protein supplementation, alongside a proper energy balance, but eating the right foods generally, and a progressive exercise routine that burns calories most days of the week, will see you lose that stubborn body fat within a few months.