Fat Burning Basics

The first step in taking control of your body fat is understanding how it works! Here are some simple guidelines on how your body can overcome its fat intake and burn fat faster.

* When you deprive your body of essential calories, it responds by slowing down your metabolism to conserve fuel. That means that it is important to never skip meals. Eat light meals frequently throughout the day.

* Aerobic activities boost fat burning - for up to an hour after we stop them. By keeping aerobic exercises a frequent part of your daily routing, you can keep your fat burning engine running constantly!

* 10% of the calories we burn in a day is by processing the nutrients we consume.

* Muscle cells burn calories faster than fat cells. So, the more muscles you have, the more calories you'll burn.

* Body composition would be a better indicator than body weight, since muscle tissue is heavier than fat tissue. By replacing fat with muscle, we change the composition and shape of our body.

The key is to eat the right types of fat and not to eat more fat than your body really needs. It is commonly recommended that both men and women get no less than 15% of calories from fat which would be about 25 to 30 grams for a 1,500 to 1,800 calorie-a-day eating plan.

If you do have more fat than necessary, how can you burn it? Make a few uncomplicated changes to your lifestyle, and you're on your way:

* Eat breakfast! Start by making the all-important decision to eat breakfast. Eating breakfast revs up your metabolism.

* Eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day. It's less fattening, as long as you monitor the total calorie intake and your energy level remains steady throughout the day.

* Get moving! Work in your garden, do chair push-ups, dance, walk your dog, anything to get the muscles working.

* Add more muscle. This is the fastest way to tone the body, because the more muscle you have, the quicker you burn fat. The best way to shape up is to incorporate strength and toning exercise with aerobic exercises. Arm yourself with these tips and win your battle against fat.

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