When trying to lose fat you must first understand that managing your weight will not be an easy task. More likely it will be a fight! But, you need a support system, someone you can count on to help you stay on track if you expect to win this battle. The support you have can come from a fitness coach, your spouse, family member, friend, pastor or counselor someone who is reliable and can hold you accountable. Warning! This is not an easy fight, but if you're serious and ready to make a change you can win. So gird up your loins and prepare yourself mentally and physically and to win the battle against fat.

1. Caloric Intake

There are a few areas regarding caloric intake that we need to be concerned about when trying to combat fat loss. First, it is important to balance your diet with the proper percentages of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Doing so will maximize your energy and curb urges to overeat making fat loss more comfortable. Moreover, cutting too many carbohydrates from your diet will decrease your energy level. Even though people who cut carbohydrates may yield results, the chances for regaining the weight are high.

Before waging war against unwanted fat, it is essential to determine your maintenance caloric intake. Maintenance caloric intake is the amount of calories your body needs to keep its current proportions of fat, muscle and water. If you don't know how many

calories you are consuming to stay at your current weight, how can you expect to program weight loss? Obviously, to melt fat from your body you will need a caloric deficit. This means you must consume fewer calories than what your body is burning. You must be careful because drastic calorie reduction can be harmful and is not recommended. Once you know your maintenance caloric intake you can reduce your calories by 500 up to 1000 depending on your activity level, body type and gender. A reduction off 500 calories a day can guarantee a 1 lb per week weight loss. However, it is not recommended to lose more than 2 lbs per week. Remember if your energy level is too low, you need to increase your caloric intake by 3 to 500 calories.

Reducing calories creates the need for stored energy that will start the FAT BURNING ENVIRONMENT WITHIN YOUR BODY. However, creating a deficit does not automatically mean you body will use FAT as FUEL. Weapon #2 depicts how to make FAT more accessible than Muscle through mobilizing the fat in your body.

2. Aerobic Exercise

You can side step and counter-punch fat by adding aerobic exercise or cardiovascular activity to your daily routine. Including this form of exercise will ignite three key processes in your body: MOBILIZING FAT FOR FUEL, BURNING CALORIES and DEPLETING NUTRIENTS.

There are numerous exercises that are considered aerobic including swimming, biking, and jogging. However, not all aerobic workouts require the same amount of energy expenditure. Shorter and more intense workout bouts allow you to burn more calories in less time whereas lower intensity exercises burn calories at a slower rate and do not challenge the body to become more efficient. For example, a person can expend up to 5 calories per minute while walking and up to 20 calories per minute while running despite the fact that both are considered aerobic. In addition, aerobic exercise alone IS NOT

SUFFICIENT to attain most weight loss goals. It is only one of many factors that must be incorporated into a successful fat loss plan.

3. Nutrient Intake & Supplementation

Another essential component that will aid fat loss is complete nutrition. Achieving complete nutrition means feeding your body adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins and fat. Exercise causes our body to utilize more nutrients and necessitates greater nutrient intake. For example, if your need for protein is not met because the exercise has increased your protein requirement, your body will steal amino acids from your muscles. As a result, your fat to lean body mass ratio as well as your percentage of fat mass increase. A way we can avoid this is through taking a Branch Chain Amino Acid (BCAA's) along with an Omega 3 Fatty-acid.

An active person should take in at least 0.8-1.2 grams of complete protein per kilogram of body weight each day. The Food and Drug Administration recommends that carbohydrates make up about 65-75% of daily caloric intake. Complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, oats and barley should make up the majority of all carbohydrates included in your diet. These are the carbohydrates that take longer for your body to breakdown. Simple carbohydrates are the fast ones, like sodas, candies, etc. Additionally, an adequate vitamin intake is needed to maintain your metabolism. Vitamin B5, biotin and thiamine among others are needed to utilize carbohydrates and proteins as fuel. A good quality multi-vitamin is a great way to satisfy your body's vitamin and mineral requirements without adding to your daily caloric intake.

Following these simple guidelines will ensure you are getting all of your nutrients while maintaining the FAT BURNING deficit we talked about earlier. Again, if you don't get these nutrients in your body, your body will get if from muscle and how much muscle do you want to lose? I assume none. This leads us to weapon # 4.

4. Individualized Resistance Training

Give fat a stunning uppercut with your resistance training program. Muscle is your FAT BURNING MACHINE! Just 1 lb of muscle, burns nearly 500 extra calories each week. That's half a pound every 3 weeks for each pound of muscle that you have! And, unless it has been more than 4 hours since your last meal, muscle is the only location in your body where fat is used. Resistance training, unlike aerobic exercise, builds the muscle that you need to burn fat. Therefore, in order to achieve your fat loss goals quickly, you need a program that includes resistance training. However, there is no "one size fits all program" that yields the same results for every person. Thus, if you are not starting to see results after 21 days you should re-examine your routine or consult a fitness professional to determine which component(s) of fat loss you are lacking - caloric intake, aerobic exercise, nutrient intake, resistance training, program manipulation.

5: Make a Plan Regardless of whether you commit to using circuit style training, total body exercises or volume training (weights may not be as heavy, more reps, using good form) as your exercise program, you must keep your heart rate at an accelerated rate. The program design should change every 3-7 weeks. The manipulation of your program allows you to burn more calories while attaining optimum muscle growth. Eliminate long rest periods through movement immediately from one exercise to the next and limit rest periods to less than 1 minute.

This article has equipped you with 5 weapons to help you conquer any fat loss battle. Each component are equally essential, however, they are not a quick fix for quick results. Instead, you should apply them as part of a permanent lifestyle change to develop a healthier, happier, more energized you!

Dedicated to you and your success!

Article Source: EzineArticles.com