Some people just never give up - they are just persistent, determined and never stray from their goals. These people are like a bulldog that refuses to release its teeth-hold on a bone. The harder you try to pull the bone out of his mouth, the harder the dog chomps down with a vice like grip. Now that's the kind of focus you should have when trying to reduce body fat.
There are hundreds of ways to lose body fat, but there are truly only a few ways you should stick to in order lose the weight and keep it off in the long term. Here are 6 simple tips to keep it simple, and change the way you go about it-
1. Getting Bored - If you're having a hard time getting excited about your routine - learn to have fun at the gym. To do that, change things up and try some other options - rowing, biking, sprinting - whatever it takes to work out again.
2. Retrain Your Taste Buds : This will take time and effort but learning to crave good foods is a great way to reduce the bad calories. For instance, instead of drenching your salad with ranch dressing, drizzle on balsamic or red wine vinegar and a table spoon of olive oil. If soda's your beverage of choice, try swapping it for a sparkling water with a splash of juice. If you do this, you will have less room for high calorie foods.
3. Eat More Fiber - Fruits, vegetables, water based soups and whole-grains are high in fiber, and contains no calories. Fiber contains bulk, so when people consume it, they consume fewer calories. People on a high fiber diet are half as likely to become obese as those who eat less fiber.
4. Embrace Fat - You won't store it if you aren't eating too many total calories. Research shows that 50% fat are just as effective for weight loss as those that is low in fat. Fat is filling, and adds flavor to your meals - so it helps you from feeling deprived, and wanting more of other food! So go ahead, enjoy the fat in meat, dairy, avocados, olive oil and nuts. Shoot for half a gram of fat for every pound of your desired weight.
5. Having a strategy for small indulgence is a good idea. So cheat a little if you have to on the weekend. The occasional slice of pizza or bowl of ice-cream is good for your diet. Or snack on something clearly defined in size and calorie intake, such as 2 or 3 squares of rich, dark chocolate.
12. Stop Weighing, Start Measuring - Get out the measuring tape, a belt or an old pair of jeans instead of the scales. Why? Because the scales can be misleading. Muscle is heavier than fat. You might lose fat and not lose weight if you build some muscle at the same time. If you're leaner, the tape measure might tell you so.
Final word - SKIP THE SCALES AND START MEASURING YOUR BODY COMPOSITION! By measuring your body fat, you take the guesswork out of your health and fitness plan - that way you will get a more accurate picture of your progress with your diet and exercise program. And if you're not too sure if you are losing or gaining muscle, or even losing fat, just measure yourself and know for sure. Based on the results, you will KNOW for sure whether your program is working.