Lifestyle

3 Key Reasons That You Are Not Burning Fat

September 24, 2015

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Don’t Make These Fat Burning Mistakes

You are doing everything right. You cut back on the carbs and sugars. You work your butt off at the gym 4 days a week. You track every calorie you put in your mouth, and yet you still have problems burning fat. How frustrating! I’m not looking for any gimmick or weight loss fad. I want to do this the right way and make it my lifestyle. What I realized is that I was making some key mistakes that I bet you might be making these too. It’s very easy to sabotage your hard work and not even know it. Don’t make these mistakes too!

1. You’re not training for fat-loss
Plain and simple, weightlifting is critical for fat loss. If you find yourself jumping on a cardio machine, participating in cardio-heavy classes or going for a jog for the majority of your workouts, it’s time to reconsider your fat loss and weight loss strategy. Adding weight training and high intensity intervals (HIIT) to workout programs has been shown to increase your metabolism, improve your body composition (the ratio of body fat to lean muscle), and improve the efficiency at which your body burns fat rather than muscle for fuel.

Solution: Add HIIT To Your Workouts

High intensity interval training is a combination of short, high-intensity bouts of exercise followed by a short recovery period. HIIT can be done with nearly any exercise and is not time consuming at all. To learn more, check out Jessica James’ article “HIIT the Weights”

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2. You’re Not Eating Enough
Yes, you read that correctly—not eating enough can prevent you from burning fat. Though this may sound odd or counter intuitive, not eating enough is a major stress on the body that can cause it to hold onto fat. This is especially true is you are very active and burning lots of calories. Your body is incredibly smart and will do whatever it can to survive. So if it senses that you aren’t taking in adequate calories, it will begin to hold onto fat in order to protect your organs. Not to mention elevate the stress hormone cortisol (which can also blunt fat loss efforts) and psychological stress.

Solution: Eat a Sufficient Amount of Calories (Especially Protein)

This doesn’t mean that you should go out and eat as many calories as possible, but rather you do need to ensure that you are eating a sufficient amount of calories especially if you are active and breaking down muscle tissue. Protein is especially important so make sure you are getting an adequate amount of protein along with a balance of healthy fats and carbohydrates to keep your metabolism humming along!

3. You’re not eating enough Protein
If you’ve spent time in the gym trying to improve your physique you are probably aware that adequate protein intake is crucial. Besides improving body composition and increasing your fat metabolism, protein also helps you feel more full longer, meaning fewer cravings for unhealthy snacks throughout the day. On top of all this, research shows that protein is great for skin, hair, bones and healthy aging.

Solution: Eat Breakfast

Studies show that eating breakfast helps reduce cravings and impulse snacking throughout the day and it is an important part of a weight reduction program. We recommend a breakfast with a balance of protein, carbs and healthy fats to get you through your morning.

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