Previously I mentioned that I don’t do any cardio and that is correct but I do weight train. Weight training may not be your cup of tea and also may not be in line with your goals; that’s fine and you can still lose weight with no cardio too.

Now your goals may include weight training or even include cardio and thats cool too. Everyone has different goals and therefore must eat a little differently for their goals.

I hope to show you how to determine your specific goals and help lead you in the direction of realistically obtaining those goals without crazy fat burners, fad diets, or the next garbage fitness equipment.

Now are you really committed to changing the way that you look, feel, and think? You’re going to have to be committed to make lasting changes.

Its not hard, and what actually got me to where I am now is one little change at a time. Those little changes add up over time and become a huge change in your overall appearance, confidence, and ability to overcome the next challenge in your life; regardless if it is fitness related or not.

So now you need to determine if you just want to lose some fat with a healthier diet or if you want to add in a training regimen; your diet will differ with what macro nutrients (macros) you intake as well as your caloric intake. For me, weight training has given me the look I want out of my body and I focus my training on weights.

Weight training also gives the benefit of more lean mass which burns more calories and also gives the look that many of us want.

Take a look at the following article from the Mayo clinic which will goes into more detail on the metabolism and why I chose to incorporate weight training.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/metabolism/WT00006#

Make your decision on your overall goals and follow along on how to start changing your diet for those specific goals; a huge part of changing is cleaning up your diet.

Some excellent sources for clean eating:

Tosca Reno’s Clean Eating Cookbooks:

Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Cookbook: Delicious Recipes That Will Burn Fat and Re-Shape Your Body!

The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook 2: More Great-Tasting Recipes That Keep You Lean

Clean Eating Magazine:

Clean Eating Magazine

A lot of people that are looking to get fit or lose some extra pounds are desperate to get that weight off and often times will buy into the quick fix or fad diets. Almost every time I turn on the TV there is some new fat burner or muscle builder or some crazy work out equipment that guarantees you’ll look like the people in the commercial in just 20 minutes a day.

I’m here to tell you that those quick fixes may sometimes work but you’ll be back to where you started in no time if you don’t keep it up, many times they don’t work at all and sometimes they can even be dangerous.

I have many people that haven’t seen me in months or years ask me how I lost the weight and every time I tell them the same thing; eating right!

Is that really all there is to it? Yes it is and there is the answer that you have been searching for, for all of these years.

I have even had someone tell me that “Cardio is essential to fat loss!”, which isn’t right either. I don’t do any cardio and it definitely didn’t get me to lose over 70 pounds in the last 3 years; it was eating right.

Now Im not going to bash cardio because it can be used to lose fat or train for a marathon but again when you stop all of that hard work, you’re right back to where you started. You can train, train, train, while eating bad and you might never get the results you have been looking for. The key to Fat loss is a proper diet, something that isn’t taught in school (don’t argue with me here, I know they teach the food pyramid, that’s not what I’m talking about.)

Everyone that is over weight and wants to lose that extra weight already knows that what they are doing right now isn’t working. Changing the way you eat will change the way that you look and feel. Take in the thoughts and advise from someone who has been in your shoes and accomplished what you want to accomplish. You don’t go to someone that hasn’t made a million dollars and ask them advice on your finances do you? I also encourage you to look at many different sources and form an educated opinion on the things that do work.

I hope to help others with what I have found to be successful for me and give you the same life skills that I have learned through some very generous friends that also lead a healthy life style.

Everyone’s body is a little different and uses a little more or a little less calories per day to maintain it’s current body weight given your activity level. The one thing that doesn’t change is that you have to have energy to burn and that is obtained from food and the calories it contains.

To gain weight you add calories and to lose weight you subtract calories. It sounds pretty simple yet people still wonder why they are over weight.

Many people just don’t think about how many calories they are consuming in a given day or what is actually in the food that they are eating. Take a few seconds to actually read the label on a soda and then figure out how many sugar calories you are actually taking in on any given day. I have heard of people drinking five to ten sodas a day or more. That is a lot of empty calories.

Now losing or gaining the desired weight (Fat or Lean Muscle) requires the right combination of macronutrients (macros; which are basically the break down of what your food is made of; protein, carbohydrates, and fats), and calories per day.

The specific macros for gaining lean mass (Bulking) or loosing fat (Cutting) will differ for each person but try going with the numbers that are generally accepted and raise or lower based on what your body responds to.

There are many different ideas about which specific macros are needed so do a little research and see what works for you and adjust accordingly.

Remember what works for one person may not work for you so you will need to watch what you take in and adjust for your body.

Any bodybuilding program that you follow online with a food list and menu of what to eat and when, isn’t necessarily optimized for your body and goals. I urge you to look through articles online; find as many books as you can regarding how to find your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), and adding or subtracting calories and Macro Nutrients (Macros) for your activity level and creating a meal plan with your goals in mind.

If you are overwhelmed with all of the meal planning and weighing food and determining portions and when to eat; it’s understandable, it’s something new and something you probably weren’t taught when you were younger.

If it is really that difficult then run through the program as it is laid out for you; just know that your results may not be as drastic as you hoped. Running through the program and learning along the way will help you in the future as you keep going forward in your training and learning what to eat. Just remember, learn something from your experience and try to understand the concepts. If there is something you are doing and you don’t know why, stop and ask someone, research online or pick up a book and learn why. This will help you in the future.

A good resource is bodybuilding.com as well as a couple of great magazines; Natural Muscle is one that I like.

Ask around and see what other people are doing and why; just make sure you ask people that you trust and that are truly knowledgeable and not just regurgitating something out of context.